Former US President Barack Obama has praised the remarkable performance of the Artemis II crew mission after the successful completion of their historic deep space journey. Sharing a statement on April 11, 2026, the 64-year-old praised the astronauts for their courage and achievement after completing a successful 10-day mission beyond low-Earth orbit.
He said in a heartfelt message: “What the Artemis II astronauts did over the past 10 days is a testament to their bravery. And the fact that they traveled farther from Earth than we ever have, re-entered our atmosphere at more than 24,000 miles per hour, and touched down safely, is a testament to human ingenuity.”
This historic mission serves as an important test bed for NASA’s long-term goals. Once the 10-day voyage ends with a Pacific Ocean splashdown, the data collected will pave the way for a permanent human presence on the Moon and future crewed missions to Mars, while providing the world with a historic glimpse of deep space. It is the first crewed flight to travel beyond low-Earth orbit in more than 50 years.
The mission successfully launched on April 1 using a Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center, covering a distance of approximately 694,481 miles. During the trip, the spacecraft reached a record distance of 252,756 miles from Earth during a lunar flight, surpassing the benchmark set by the Apollo 13 mission in 1970. A wide range of important tests were conducted and experiments on deep space radiation and microgravity were conducted. The crew also took thousands of photographs of the Moon and Earth, providing important data for later projects.
Artemis II astronauts continue their journey back to Earth after making a historic lunar flight and viewing a total solar eclipse from their spacecraft. As the journey continued, the spacecraft reached its maximum distance from Earth during the lunar flight: 252,756 miles (406,771 km). The incredible success of Artemis II laid the groundwork for the Artemis III mission, scheduled for 2027, which aims to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon and pave the way for future missions to Mars.
