Some of the world's most important political figures caught up with NASA's Artemis 2 crew while they were orbiting around the moon, but one awkward detail appears to differentiate their conversation with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney compared to his American equal.
While three quarters of NASA's historic Artemis 2 crew are from the United States, Canada's sole representative Jeremy Hansen has made sure that nobody has forgot where he comes from during a recent call.
In between catching a glimpse of the Moon's dark side and sharing a heartfelt moment with his fellow crew members, Hansen spoke to Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney alongside the three American astronauts and appeared to revel in the opportunity to speak with his home nation's leader.
Carney sparked laughter inside the relatively cramped Orion spacecraft when he asked about the presence of maple syrup on board, referencing a recent viral clip where a jar of Nutella was spotted floating through the air in zero gravity, and Hansen shared a Canadian flag with Carney's name on it that will be gifted to the prime minister when the Artemis II crew lands on Friday.
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Amidst the crew's delight, however, emerges one awkward detail that some on social media have noted, and it's found within the difference between their chat with Carney and their conversation with US President Donald Trump.
Trump managed to speak to the crew two days before the Canadian prime minister, presumably owing to NASA's status as a US government agency, and the conversation occurred after the astronauts had broken the record for the furthest distance traveled by a human.
While some have noted the more muted reactions of the astronauts when speaking to the US president, the key detail highlighted by one user on X is the delay in their responses to Trump compared to Carney.
"Notice the difference between how quickly the Artemis crew responded to Mark Carney compared to Trump?" Questioned one keen-eyed observer, adding that "there was never any delay."
Part of that appeared to be a connection issue during the call with Trump and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, which peaked with an incredibly awkward 63-second silence that only ended when Reid Wiseman grabbed the microphone to ask if they were still there.
Trump then suggested that the connection might have been disrupted, noting: "Yeah I think we might've got cut off. It's a long distance, it's a long ways. The reception's been great," he added, noting that "there's a little bit of about a nine-second delay."