The four astronauts of Artemis II flew deeper into space on Monday than any humans before them, as they travelled through a rare flyby of the shadowed far side of the Moon, revealing a surface marked by intense cosmic bombardment.
The six-hour survey of the normally hidden hemisphere of Earth’s only natural satellite was highlighted by the astronauts’ direct visual observations of “impact flashes” from meteors striking the darkened and heavily cratered lunar surface.
About two dozen scientists gathered in a conference room adjacent to mission control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center to record the lunar phenomena observed by the crew in real time, as their Orion spacecraft, roughly the size of an SUV, travelled around the Moon at a distance of about 402,000 km from Earth.
Historic Flyby
The six-hour flyby, which brought the spacecraft to within 4,070 miles of the lunar surface, came six days into a mission marking the first time astronauts have travelled to the Moon’s vicinity since the Cold War-era Apollo programme more than half a century ago.
Six of those missions landed two-man teams on the Moon between 1969 and 1972 — the only 12 humans ever to walk on its surface.
Artemis, the successor to Apollo, aims to repeat that achievement by 2028 and establish a long-term U.S. presence on the Moon over the next decade, including a lunar base to support potential future missions to Mars.
Scientific Observations
Although designed as a crewed rehearsal for future lunar landings, Artemis II produced a wealth of new data for scientists, including meteor impact flashes observed during Monday’s flyby, resembling sparks and streaks of light previously described by some Apollo astronauts.
The crew, aboard Orion since launching from Florida last week, began their sixth day in space with a pre-recorded message from the late NASA astronaut Jim Lovell, who flew on Apollo 8 and Apollo 13.
“Welcome to my old neighbourhood,” Lovell said. “It’s a historic day… don’t forget to enjoy the view… good luck and Godspeed.”
Record-Breaking Distance
Hours later, the crew Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen travelled farther from Earth than any humans before, reaching 252,756 miles.
The previous record of roughly 248,000 miles was set in 1970 during Apollo 13, after a near-catastrophic malfunction forced the crew to use the Moon’s gravity to return safely to Earth.
Naming Lunar Features
During the journey, the astronauts assigned provisional names to previously unnamed lunar features.
In a radio message to mission control, Hansen proposed naming one crater “Integrity”, after their Orion capsule, and another in honour of Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll, who died in 2020.
“It’s a bright spot on the Moon, and we would like to call that Carroll,” Hansen said, his voice breaking with emotion.
He later added that the crew had observed features “no human has ever seen before, not even in Apollo.”
Rare Visual Moments
As Orion passed around the far side of the Moon, the astronauts captured images of Earth appearing to set and rise along the lunar horizon a striking reversal of the familiar view from Earth.
Because the Moon rotates at the same rate as it orbits Earth, its far side always faces away from the planet, and only Apollo and Artemis astronauts have observed it directly.
Communication Blackout
The flyby plunged the crew into darkness and a 40-minute communications blackout as the Moon blocked signals from NASA’s Deep Space Network, a global system of radio antennas used to communicate with spacecraft.
After communication was restored, U.S. President Donald Trump congratulated the crew via a live audio link from the White House.
“Today, you’ve made history and made all America incredibly proud,” he said.
Koch described one of her most memorable moments as seeing Earth again after emerging from the far side of the Moon.
When asked about the blackout, Glover said: “I said a little prayer, but then I had to keep rolling.”
(with inputs from Reuters)
