WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump welcomed the Artemis II astronauts to the White House on April 29 to celebrate their recent lunar flyby mission.

Cmdr. Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, who splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on April 10, met with the president in the Oval Office.

“We have some people that have captivated the attention of the whole world, not just our country, the whole world,” Trump said during the ceremony. “They’re very brave, and that was a lot of rocket under them. I never saw anything like that.”

He commended the astronauts for their courage, intelligence, and aptitude.

“It takes people like this to make our country great,” Trump said. “They have unbelievable courage.”

According to NASA, the crew flew more than 250,000 miles on their mission, which launched from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 1.

None of the astronauts spoke during the White House event, but they chatted with the president while on their journey.

“We are doing great things and we are proud to be a part of [it],” Wiseman said during a call from the Artemis capsule.

“All of us commented how excited we are to watch this nation and this planet become a two-planet species.”

The space agency described the mission as identifying potential lunar landing locations and testing systems in deep space while preparing to explore the moon for scientific discovery and economic benefits. The crew would also “help build momentum for the first crewed missions to Mars.”

Administrator Jared Isaacman praised the astronauts, engineers, and staff responsible for supporting the Artemis expeditions after the crew’s safe return.

“Artemis II demonstrated extraordinary skill, courage, and dedication as the crew pushed Orion, [the Space Launch System], and human exploration farther than ever before,” he said in a statement on April 10. “As the first astronauts to fly this rocket and spacecraft, the crew accepted significant risk in service of the knowledge gained and the future we are determined to build.”

He joined the president and the astronauts in the White House, highlighting future endeavors that include the possibility of a manned lunar landing in 2028.

“We have an achievable plan now back to the moon, and we’re back in the business of launching moon rockets with frequency,” Isaacman said.

Trump authorized the Artemis program in 2019 during his first term, with original plans including a timeline of landing a woman and a man on the moon in 2024, a target subsequently delayed by NASA.

Trump said he remained optimistic but tempered expectations that astronauts will set foot on the moon during his presidency.

“Well, we have a shot at it,“ Trump said. ”I mean, we don’t like to say definitely, because then you say, ‘Oh, we failed.’”

The president said he will declassify information related to UFOs soon, noting that the documents are highly anticipated.

“We’re going to be releasing as much as we can in the near future,” Trump said. “Anything having to do with UFO or related material, and we’re going to be releasing a lot of things from that we have, and I think some of it’s going to be very interesting to people.”