The Artemis II cew literally went where no man, or woman, had gone before on a historic trek around the dark side of the moon on Monday, and the crew did it with pilot Victor Glover making a 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.

NASA’S ARTEMIS II CREW COMMITS TO MOON TRAJECTORY AFTER CRITICAL BURN SENDS ORION INTO DEEP SPACE

«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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Before going to sleep on flight day 5, the Artemis II crew snapped one more photo of the Moon, as it drew closer through the window of the Orion spacecraft. (NASA)

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.

This image from video provided by NASA shows the Artemis II crew, from left, Canadian astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, Commander Reid Wiseman, mission specialist Christina Koch and pilot Victor Glover as they speak with NASA Mission Control in a video conference while en route to the moon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (NASA)

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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.»

TRUMP HYPES MOON MISSION AS ARTEMIS II PREPARES TO LIFT OFF UNDER PRESSURE FROM PAST FAILURES

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.»

ASTRONAUT VICTOR GLOVER PRAISED FOR SAYING MOON MISSION IS ‘HUMAN HISTORY,’ NOT ‘BLACK HISTORY’

Split of President Donald Trump and Jared Isaacman. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images, Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

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.

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«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.»

La energía era la clave.

Postura

The White House tore into Democrat activist and failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams on Monday after she argued President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to rein in mail-in voting was «illegal.»

«Has Stacey Abrams conceded the multiple elections she lost yet or is she still pretending to be Governor?» White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital. «Election integrity has always been a top priority for President Trump, and the American people sent him back to the White House because they overwhelmingly supported his commonsense election integrity agenda.»

The comment was in response to Abrams, who said during an appearance on MS NOW over the weekend that Trump’s order would disenfranchise voters, resurfacing long-held tensions with the president amid his latest push to enhance voter security ahead of the midterms. Abrams previously ran for Georgia governor twice and refused to formally concede her 2018 election. 

«It is patently illegal, and it is entirely in the playbook of voter suppression that Republicans, including Donald Trump, have been using for the last decade or so,» Abrams said.

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Trump’s order, called «Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections,» directs the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration, in coordination with state leaders, to create a list of citizens, and then directed the U.S. Postal Service to only deliver mail-in ballots to people on the list.

«The president will do everything in his power to defend the safety and security of American elections and to ensure that only American citizens are voting in them – that’s only controversial for Democrats like Stacey,» Jackson added.

Abrams founded Fair Fight Action after her 2018 loss to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, saying Georgia’s election system suppressed voters. The group was later ordered to reimburse the state more than $200,000 in legal costs after an unsuccessful lawsuit. 

Separately, Abrams-linked advocacy groups have faced campaign-finance and nonprofit-compliance scrutiny, including a Georgia Ethics Commission case involving the New Georgia Project and a 2025 IRS complaint targeting Fair Fight Action.

Abrams has since criticized Republican-led voting initiatives at the federal and state level as relics of the Jim Crow era and designed to disenfranchise racial minorities.

«The Constitution gives to the states the authority to determine how elections are held,» Abrams said. «What the Republican regime is upset about is that democracy has been working.»

President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 31, 2026. Trump signed an executive order Tuesday intended to make it harder for voters to cast mail-in ballots, escalating his long-running campaign against a practice used by millions of Americans. (Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Trump criticized Abrams as far back as 2018 over her stance on voting, accusing her of wanting «illegal aliens to vote.» Abrams «opposed requiring proof of American citizenship at the ballot box,» Trump said at the time.

Trump has long argued that noncitizen voting, which is illegal, is a widespread problem in U.S. elections. In addition to his executive order, Trump has urged Congress to pass the SAVE Act before the 2026 elections to impose a physical identification requirement on people registering to vote, though it lacks the needed support from Democratic senators to advance in the upper chamber.

While the White House has framed Trump’s executive order as an effort to bolster election integrity, Abrams and other critics argued it intruded on state authority and would unfairly suppress votes.

«The biggest risk for Americans right now is that we see these as piecemeal, and we don’t recognize it’s part of a pattern,» Abrams said. «This is step 10 in an authoritarian playbook. You end democracy.»

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Vote by Mail ballots are inspected at the Los Angeles County Ballot Processing Center on November 4, 2025, in City of Industry. California. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Abrams also alleged that the executive order would serve to create a master list of voters, effectively usurping state control over voter registration lists and federalizing elections.

«The creation of a database … should terrify all of us,» Abrams said. «That is an attempt to do national surveillance.»

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In addition to Abrams’ criticisms, roughly two dozen states and voting rights groups filed lawsuits seeking to block the executive order, arguing Trump’s directives violated the Constitution by encroaching on states’ authority to administer elections.

Fox News Digital reached out to an Abrams representative for comment.