On Monday, four astronauts on the Artemis II mission slipped behind the Moon — and, in doing so, traveled farther from Earth than any prior human being in history.
They also, unfortunately, experienced one of the most skin-crawlingly awkward interactions in the entire solar system.
During their trip behind the Moon, which brought them 248,655 miles from Earth, the Integrity spacecraft lost contact with ground control in an expected communication blackout that lasted roughly 40 minutes. When they reemerged, the crew — NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen — reestablished contact to celebrate.
Those festivities took an awkward turn, though, when president Trump hopped on the call.
“You’ve made history and made all America really proud,” Trump began.
It was a fine start. But after he lavished praise on Hansen, perhaps to help smooth over strained Canadian-US relations, the astronauts seemed to have nothing to say in response.
“I spoke to your prime minister and many other friends I have in Canada. They are so proud of you,” Trump said.
But Hansen didn’t respond verbally — and neither did any of his compatriots.
And the silence dragged.
For over a minute, the four crew members kept smiling at the camera, like they were posing for a group photo being taken by someone who accidentally hit record. Hansen gave a thumbs up. Smiles stretched into upturned grimaces. Glover’s gaze fell to the ground, defying microgravity. The microphone, floating in front of them, spun listlessly. Each of the astronauts took turns fiddling with it, still saying nothing.
Trump made no attempt to break the silence. It was finally dispelled when Wiseman exhibited the leadership he was made mission commander for and grabbed the mic.
“Administrator Isaacman, just getting a quick comm check to make sure you guys are still on the line and we didn’t have a handover,” he said, addressing NASA head Jared Isaacman.
Trump’s booming voice confirmed that he’d been on the line all along.
“I am, yes. I am,” he said, with a noticeable echo, followed by a chorus of laughter from the control room.
Trump then blamed the extended silence on a technical glitch.
“Yeah I think we may have gotten cut, it is a long distance, it’s a long ways, the reception’s been great. There’s a little bit of about a nine second delay,” he said, before waxing lyrical about Canadian hockey legend Wayne Gretzky.
More on space: Lone Jar of Nutella Drifts Around Cabin of Moon Spacecraft
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