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The Artemis II literally went where no man, or woman, has gone before in an historic trek around the dark side of the moon Monday, and the crew did it with pilot Victor Glover making quick request for divine assistance.
“I’d like to ask, what was your feeling when you had no communication?” President Donald Trump asked in a call arranged by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman from Houston mission control to “Integrity,” the crew’s chosen name for the Orion capsule. “Zero communication all of a sudden: It was cut off by obviously your very special location; what was your feeling when you had no communication? A little bit different perhaps.”
“Yes, Mr. President, it was,” Glover replied. “I said a little prayer, but then I had to keep rolling.”
The prayer was quick, because when things went dark, the crew had to get to work during the 45-minute communications outage.
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“I was actually recording scientific observations of the far side of the moon,” Glover continued. “You know, that is actually the time when we were the farthest and the closest to the moon.
“And so we were really able to make some of our most detailed observations of the far side of the moon up close. And so we were busy up here working really hard. And I must say it was actually quite nice.”
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Trump drilled down on the observations.
“Did you see a difference, a big difference between the far side of the moon and the near side of the moon?” Trump asked. “Was there a difference in feel or difference in look, what did you see?”
The lack of light “certainly did” change the perspective, Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen said, noting the far side looked strikingly different from the near side, with far fewer of the dark plains visible from Earth.
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“The gravitational pull of the Earth has had a profound effect on the near side of the moon, changing all those dark mares, those dark patches of the moon you see from Earth. It’s very different on the far side.
“While you see some small patches of those mare and deep craters, it’s very much absent on that side. So that’s really neat.”
Hansen also took a moment to thank Trump on behalf of Canada, a country that has had at-times testy dealings with Trump.
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“And while I have the microphone, sir, I just want to thank you on behalf of Canada: The space leadership you spoke of from America truly is extraordinary,” Hansen said. “I’ve said this many times before, a nation that leads like that and creates and sets big goals for humanity, that brings other countries along with it, is truly incredible.
“And I know that’s a very intentional, not a necessary decision, intentional decision to lead by example and to allow other countries like Canada to share our gifts and help you achieve these mutually beneficial goals, like establishing a presence on the moon and eventually going to Mars.
“And Canadians are so proud to be a part of this program.”
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Trump referenced Canadian hockey great Wayne Gretzky and said the country is proud of Hansen’s bravery.
“They are so proud of you, and you have a lot of courage,” Trump said. “I’m not sure if they’d want to do that. I’m not even sure if The Great One would want to do that, to be honest with you. But you have a lot of courage doing what you’re doing, a lot of bravery and a lot of of genius. But they’re very, very proud of you.”
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Mission specialist Christina Koch spoke about regaining sight of Earth after the blackout and the importance of U.S. leadership in deep-space exploration.
“One of the biggest highlights was coming back from the far side of the moon and having the first glimpses of planet Earth again, after being out of communication for about 45 minutes,” said Koch, the first woman to the moon, who already holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman (328 days) and was part of the first all-female spacewalk.
“It really just reminds you what a special place we have and how important it is for our nation to work, to lead and not follow in exploring deep space.”
Commander Reid Wiseman told Trump the crew had witnessed views that were first sights for humanity, including a solar corona during an eclipse and planets lining up beyond the moon.
“We saw sights hat no human has ever seen before, not even in Apollo, and that was amazing for us,” Wiseman said. “And then the surprise of the day, we just came out of an eclipse where the sun, moon — the entire dark moon about that big right out the window that we were watching — we could see the corona of the sun, and then we could see the planet train line up, and Mars.
“And all of us commented how excited we are to watch this nation, and this planet become a two-planet species.”
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