Following the successful historic splashdown of the Artemis II mission Friday evening, President Donald Trump congratulated the crew and looked forward to welcoming them at the White House, which he says will take place "soon."

"Congratulations to the Great and Very Talented Crew of Artemis II. The entire trip was spectacular, the landing was perfect and, as President of the United States, I could not be more proud! I look forward to seeing you all at the White House soon," Trump wrote Friday on his social media platform.

On Monday, the president called into the spacecraft and told the crew that he would "absolutely find the time" to welcome them to the Oval Office, though he did not specify when.

At a press conference following the safe splashdown of the Artemis II crew in the Pacific Ocean on Friday evening, NASA officials hailed the historic 10-day mission and said bigger challenges lie ahead.

"So, ya'll, we did it," said Lori Haze, deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate.

Howard Hu, NASA Orion program manager, said: "This is the start of a new era of human space exploration."

By 2028, NASA plans to land a crew on the surface of the moon with the Artemis IV mission.

Amit Kshatriya, associate NASA administrator, said the successful ending of the mission means "the path to the lunar surface is open," but hard work remains ahead.

"Fifty-three years ago, humanity left the moon. This time we returned to stay," Kshatriya said. "Let us finish what they started ... Let us not go to plant flags and leave -- but to stay."

One by one, the members of the Artemis crew are being hoisted into waiting helicopters after the successful splashdown following the 10-day mission around the moon.

The helicopters are carrying the astronauts to the USS John P. Murtha off the coast of San Diego.

Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman is the last crewmember to come out of the capsule.

The process to hoist them up to awaiting Navy helicopters will begin shortly.