President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he meets with Artemis II astronauts (Image/AP)
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday meet Nasa’s Artemis II astronauts at the White House, hosting the crew shortly after their historic 10-day mission around the Moon.The crew included astronauts Reid 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 light-hearted remark on space travel and asked, “Is a president allowed to go on a space mission?”Nasa Administrator Jared Isaacman, who was also in attendance, responded to the president’s remark, saying, “We can get working on it, Mr President.” The astronauts had recently completed Artemis II mission, the first crewed journey around the Moon in more than 50 years, marking a key step in the US space agency’s broader plan to return humans to the lunar surface and prepare for future Mars missions.During the interaction, Trump said he believed Nasa had a strong chance of achieving a Moon landing during his current term, which ends in 2029. “Oh, we have a shot at it.”He added, “I mean, we don’t like to say ‘definitely,’ because then you say, ‘oh, we failed,’” and reiterated, “But I think we have a good shot,” while speaking to astronauts.The Artemis programme aims to establish long-term human presence on the Moon, with the United States targeting a crewed lunar landing in 2028.The Artemis II mission tested critical systems including life support, navigation and radiation shielding, providing key data for future deep space missions.
