Houston – The Artemis II astronauts are already the champions of a new era of lunar exploration. Now is the time to set a new distance record.
Launched last week on humanity’s first trip to the Moon since 1972, the three Americans and the Canadian pursue Apollo 13’s maximum range from Earth. In this way, they will become the most distant emissaries of our planet, since on Monday they will circle the Moon without stopping and then return home at full speed.
Their roughly six-hour lunar flyby promises views of the far side of the Moon that were too dark or difficult to see for the 24 Apollo astronauts who preceded them. A total solar eclipse also awaits when the Moon blocks the Sun and exposes fragments of the bright corona.
1/18 | From the silence of space: Artemis II reveals stunning images of Earth. This image provided by NASA shows a view of Earth captured by NASA astronaut and Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman from the window of the Orion spacecraft after completing the translunar injection maneuver. – NASA via AP
“We will set our eyes on the Moon, we will map it and we will continue moving forward,” said flight director Judd Frieling. The goal is to create a lunar base filled with landers, rovers, drones and habitats.
Artemis II approaches another world: the Moon, our inseparable companion.
Apollo 13 breaks the record for distance to Earth
The Apollo 13 astronauts were unable to land on the moon when one of their oxygen cylinders broke in 1970.
With all three lives in danger, Mission Control switched to a free-return lunar trajectory to bring them home as quickly and efficiently as possible. This trajectory is based on the gravity of the Earth and the Moon, and a minimum of fuel.
It worked for Apollo 13, making it NASA’s biggest “successful failure.” (For the record, flight director Gene Kranz never uttered “Failure is not an option.” The phrase is pure Hollywood, originating from the 1995 biopic starring Tom Hanks.)
How Artemis II will surpass Apollo 13
Commander Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert reached a maximum of 248,655 miles (400,171 kilometers) from Earth before making the U-turn that saved their lives on Apollo 13.
1 / 14 | 50 years later, NASA shares images of the aborted Apollo 13 lunar mission. 50 years ago, astronauts Fred Haise, Jack Swigert and Jim Lovell had the mission of reaching the Moon. – The Associated Press
The Artemis II astronauts follow the same figure-eight trajectory, since they do not orbit the Moon or land on it. However, its distance to Earth should exceed that of Apollo 13 by about 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers).
Artemis II’s Christina Koch stated late last week that she and her colleagues don’t live on superlatives, but that this is an important milestone “that people can understand and understand,” merging the past with the present and even the future as new records are set.
Artemis II astronauts take turns getting privileged lunar views
During the flyby, the astronauts will divide into pairs and take turns capturing lunar views from their windows with their cameras.
Because the launch took place on April 1, the encounter will not illuminate the far side of the Moon as much as on other dates. However, according to Kelsey Young, a NASA geologist, the crew will be able to distinguish “specific parts of the hidden face that have never been seen” by humans, including a good part of the Orientale basin.
They will relay their observations as they photograph the gray, cratered scenes. There is a suite of professional-grade cameras on board, and each astronaut also has an iPhone for more casual, impromptu photos.
Young’s team created lunar geography flashcards for the astronauts to study before flight. “They’ve been practicing for many, many, many months with Moon visualizations,” he said over the weekend, “and as they set their sights on the real thing, I’m really, really looking forward to them bringing the Moon a little closer to home on Monday.”
There will be a total solar eclipse during the lunar flyby
The upside to the April 1 liftoff is a total solar eclipse. The eclipse will not be visible from Earth—only from the Orion capsule—and will give astronauts several minutes of views of the Sun’s outermost and most radiant atmosphere, the corona.
Astronauts will be on the lookout for any unusual solar activity during the eclipse, Young explained, and will use their “unique point of view” to describe the features of the solar corona.
The four astronauts packed eclipse glasses to protect their eyes.
How long does the brief blackout last behind the Moon?
Orion will be out of contact with Mission Control for almost an hour when it is behind the Moon. The same thing happened during the lunar missions of the Apollo program.
1 / 15 | Meet the crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission. One day (April 1, 2026) before the scheduled launch of the Artemis II mission, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) finalized planning for its first manned mission to the Moon since 1972. – EFE Agency
NASA relies on its Deep Space Network to communicate with the crew, but giant antennas in California, Spain and Australia will not have a direct line of sight when Orion disappears behind the Moon for about 40 minutes.
These communication blackouts were always a tense moment during the Apollo missions although, as Frieling points out, “physics takes over and physics will certainly get us back to the visible side of the Moon.”
Artemis II returns home after lunar flyby
Once the spacecraft leaves the lunar neighborhood, it will take four days to return home. The capsule will aim for a splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego on April 10, nine days after liftoff from Florida.
During the return flight, the astronauts will connect by radio with the crew of the International Space Station, which is in orbit. It’s the first time a lunar crew has had colleagues in space at the same time, and NASA won’t pass up the opportunity for a cosmic chat. The conversation will include the two members of the first all-female spacewalk in 2019: Koch aboard Orion and Jessica Meir, on the station.
This story was translated from English to Spanish with an artificial intelligence tool and was reviewed by an editor before publication.