Artemis 2 astronauts attend Trump's State of the Union address
The four astronauts who will fly around the moon on the first U.S. human lunar spaceflight in more than 50 years were guests at the State of the Union address .
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman , Victor Glover and Christina Koch , as well as the Canadian Space Agency's Jeremy Hansen , were seated among attendees Tuesday, Feb. 24 as President Donald Trump delivered his marathon speech. Though the nearly two-hour speech set a record for State of the Union addresses, Trump did not mention the Artemis 2 mission for which the astronauts were selected.
That mission, the second under NASA's multibillion-dollar program to return astronauts to the moon, is slated for liftoff no earlier than April. Originally targeted for a February launch , Artemis 2 has faced a series of delays due to issues detected on the towering rocket meant to propel the astronauts on their way.
Trump has previously spoken about his desire to see a moon landing before his second term comes to an end. And Artemis 2, which will send the four astronauts on a 10-day trip around the moon , would help pave the way for a future lunar landing during a follow-up mission.
Here's what to know about Artemis 2, and how the astronauts selected for the mission came to be at the State of the Union.
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Artemis 2 astronauts attend Trump's State of the Union Address
Wiseman, Glover, Koch and Hansen were guests of House Speaker Mike Johnson , a Republican representing Louisiana, during the 2026 State of the Union address . The four astronauts were present in the House chamber in the U.S. Capital in Washington D.C., wearing bright blue NASA jackets emblazoned with the mission patch.
The invitation was presumably made at the last minute, as the astronauts had been in pre-launch quarantine to avoid exposure to illnesses before NASA signaled Saturday, Feb. 21 that the Artemis 2 launch would be delayed again.
Did Trump mention the Artemis 2 moon mission in his SOTU speech?
Trump did no specifically mention the Artemis 2 moon mission by name during his SOTU address.
But Trump has often highlighted the importance of America's return to the moon under a reignited space race with China to establish a permanent lunar base on the south pole of Earth's natural satellite. In fact, NASA's Artemis program was established in 2017 during his first term.
What are NASA's Artemis missions?
NASA's Artemis program is the agency's ambitious campaign to return Americans to the surface of the moon for the first time since the Apollo era came to an end in 1972 . Ultimately, Artemis reflects NASA's moon-to-Mars approach to getting the first humans to the Red Planet.
In the years ahead , NASA's Artemis campaign aims to launch a series of crewed missions to establish a continuous human presence on the moon with a lunar settlement on the south pole . That's where water ice thought to be abundant in the region could be extracted and used for drinking , breathing and as a source of hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel.
The Artemis 2 astronauts won't be landing, but will instead circle the moon on a 10-day trip to test systems and hardware in the Orion capsule for future expeditions to the surface. A moon landing would then take place during Artemis 3 .
When is the Artemis 2 rocket launch date? What to know after delay
The Artemis 2 mission won't get off the ground any earlier than April now that NASA has again delayed the launch to fix a problem with the upper stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The State of the Union came one day before NASA plans to roll the giant rocket off the launch pad, where it's been vertical since mid-January, to continue making repairs.
The 322-foot rocket will lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida – providing the initial burst of thrust that will send the astronauts on their way in the Orion capsule.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Artemis 2 crew invited to Trump's SOTU ahead of moon mission
