Trump interacts with ISS astronauts, announces setting up Space Academy

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump announced the formation of a new military Space Academy and interacted with astronauts onboard the International Space Station, including Anil Menon, during a visit to NASA’s Mission Control at Houston.

“This is a great honour, to be with you is a great honour and I just want to thank Jessica, Anil, Jack - great Americans, great patriots, brave people,” Trump said, making a call to the orbital laboratory from the Mission Control at Johnson Space Centre on Friday.

NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway, Anil Menon, and Jessica Meir are part of Expedition 75 to the International Space Station.

Trump called the crew a group of "pioneers" for their efforts in space exploration.

After his brief remarks, Trump had NASA astronaut Anna Menon, Anil Menon's wife, and Duke Brady, Jessica Meir's husband, briefly interact with the ISS crew.

“Hi, it’s Anna. Great to see you guys up there. We love you guys. You’re doing a great job,” she said.

The President also offered to welcome the astronauts to the White House when they return.

Menon, a colonel in the US Space Force, told Trump he was proud to serve in space and shared his experiences about the spacewalk he completed earlier this week.

Trump also announced the formation of the new Space Academy – a “top line” school with tough admission standards and a “beautiful” campus to train the next generation of civilian and military aerospace experts.

“You think of West Point, and you think of Annapolis, and you think of the Air Force Academy and you think of the Coast Guard Academy. It’s great. They’re all great, but we’re going to now have a Space Force (academy),” the US President announced.

Menon said he was “so proud and excited” that the United States was preparing for missions beyond low-Earth orbit.

“We are going to pave the way to our next journey to the Moon, Moon Base and Mars,” he said. “And thank you for propelling us in that direction.”

“I want to get a moustache like that,” Trump told astronaut Hathaway.

“Absolutely, sir. I appreciate it. Yeah, the moustache is a lot of fun,” Hathaway replied.

Trump was in Houston to present the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the four-person crew of the Artemis II mission, which travelled around the moon in April, setting a new record distance from Earth for a manned space mission.