The four-astronaut crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission is now headed back to Earth after a record-breaking loop around the moon, traveling farther from Earth than any humans before them.
As the Orion capsule sped around the moon’s far side on Monday, Earth was out of sight and the crew lost contact with Mission Control for about 40 minutes because the moon blocked signals to the Deep Space Network.
“And to all of you down there on Earth and around Earth, we love you, from the Moon,” mission specialist Christina Koch radioed before the blackout. “We will see you on the other side.”
During that blackout the capsule reached its closest approach to the lunar surface, about 4,067 miles above it. Minutes later the crew hit the mission’s maximum distance from Earth — 252,756 miles — surpassing the Apollo 13 record from 1970 by 4,111 miles.
When communications were restored, Koch spoke of future plans and priorities: “We will explore, we will build, we will build ships. We will visit again. We will construct science outposts. We will drive rovers. We will do radio astronomy. We will found companies. We will bolster industry. We will inspire, but ultimately, we will always choose Earth. We will always choose each other.”
Orion and its crew now begin the roughly quarter-million-mile return with new observations of the lunar surface and test-flight data to support planned missions that aim to land humans on the moon as early as 2028.
New lunar data
While looping the moon, the astronauts made geological observations of about 35 sites of interest and took thousands of photographs. From their high-altitude view over the far side, the crew — working in pairs — relayed real-time descriptions to scientists at Johnson Space Center in Houston, noting color changes and other surface features that can reveal mineral composition.
Although satellites provide extensive imagery, NASA says the human eye can be better at picking up subtle color variations. “The plateau is hard for me to see from this window, but that had green issues to me and was very unique,” mission specialist Jeremy Hansen told NASA’s lunar scientists. “I didn’t see anything like that anywhere else on this side of the moon. And then I see a lot of these, what I would call brownish hue areas.”
Those observations will help scientists refine understanding of lunar composition and plan future robotic landings on the far side.
The flight path also carried the spacecraft through a solar eclipse, when a mostly dark moon passed in front of the sun. The roughly hourlong event allowed the crew to study the solar corona as it peeked around the lunar limb. “This continues to be unreal,” pilot Victor Glover told Mission Control. “It is quite an impressive sight.”
The astronauts are scheduled to share more of their science data and observations in an in-flight meeting with science officials.
During the flyby the crew also dedicated an unnamed crater to commander Reid Wiseman’s late wife, who died of cancer in 2020. “We lost a loved one, her name was Carroll. It’s a bright spot on the moon. And we would like to call that Carroll,” Hansen said.
Returning home
Artemis II is a test flight for Orion, and the crew will keep carrying out flight tests as they return, including deploying a radiation shield and further testing the spacecraft’s manual maneuvering.
A critical test will come at reentry on Friday, when Orion will hit Earth’s atmosphere at about 25,000 miles per hour and face temperatures up to roughly 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. A heat shield beneath the capsule is designed to protect the crew during that phase. Parachutes will then slow Orion to just under 20 miles per hour for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, with airbags deploying to help ensure the capsule lands right side up.
Personnel from NASA and the U.S. Department of War will assist the crew out of the capsule and carry them to a recovery ship, concluding the nearly 10-day mission to the moon and back.