There was more than just appreciation of the moon coming from the astronauts. The crew radioed back observations of lunar craters, its vast basalt plains known as mare (Latin for "seas"), brightness variations and other details. They turned out the lights in the cabin of their Orion moon ship in order to get a better view.

The White House on April 3 outlined a $1.5 trillion national defense budget, a roughly 42% increase that would mark the largest military topline in U.S. history. The proposal frames the increase as a push to rebuild industrial capacity and accelerate new programs, including a missile defense architecture known as Golden Dome for America.