President Donald Trump speaks to reporters while meeting with Artemis 2 astronauts (Photo/AP)
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday met with NASA’s Artemis 2 astronauts at the White House, where he hosted the crew shortly after their historic 10-day mission around the moon.The crew included astronauts Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, all of whom were present at the White House event. During his interaction, Trump made a lukewarm remark about space travel and asked, “Is the president allowed to go on a space mission?”NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, who was also present, responded to the president’s remark by saying, “We can work on it, Mr. President.” The astronauts recently completed the Artemis 2 mission, the first manned flight around the moon in more than 50 years, marking a major step in the US space agency’s broader plan to return humans to the moon’s surface and prepare for future Mars missions.During the conversation, Trump said he believes NASA has a strong chance of achieving a moon landing during his current term, which ends in 2029. “Oh, we have a chance to make it happen.”“I mean, we don’t like to say ‘sure,’ because then you say, ‘Oh, we failed,'” he added, repeating, “But I think we have a good chance,” while speaking to the astronauts.The Artemis program aims to establish a long-term human presence on the moon, with the United States targeting a manned lunar landing in 2028.The Artemis II mission tested critical systems including life support, navigation and radiation protection, providing essential data for future deep space missions.
