Artemis II Crew Makes History Twice in One Day During Lunar Flyby

Monday, April 6 was supposed to be the most dramatic day of NASA's Artemis II mission. It was written in the stars from the beginning. And boy, did the NASA astronauts deliver.

In the span of roughly two hours, the four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft broke a record that has stood since 1970, witnessed an Earthrise from deep space, and entered a solar eclipse visible from no other vantage point on Earth — or anywhere near it.

A New Record for Human Spaceflight

At 7:00 p.m. ET, Orion reached its closest approach to the Moon at approximately 4,067 miles above the lunar surface, traveling at roughly 60,863 miles per hour relative to Earth. Two minutes later, at 7:02 p.m., the crew reached the mission's maximum distance from Earth — 252,756 miles — setting a new record for the farthest humans have ever traveled from our planet. The milestone placed commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen a full 4,111 miles farther from Earth than the Apollo 13 crew traveled in 1970, breaking a record that had stood for 56 years.

Both milestones happened while the crew was completely out of contact with Mission Control, passing behind the Moon with no communication from Earth. They made history alone.

Artemis II Seeing Earthrise

At 7:24 p.m., as Orion emerged from behind the Moon, the crew witnessed an Earthrise — Earth appearing to rise above the lunar horizon — moments before the Deep Space Network reacquired the spacecraft's signal and restored communications with Mission Control. It is one of the most iconic images in the history of spaceflight, first captured by Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders in 1968. Monday night, four humans saw it live.

A Solar Eclipse From Deep Space

At 8:35 p.m., Artemis II entered a solar eclipse as Orion, the Moon and the Sun aligned. For approximately one hour, the crew watched the Sun disappear behind a mostly darkened Moon — a sight impossible to witness from Earth's surface. The crew used the opportunity to study the solar corona, the Sun's outermost atmosphere, glowing around the lunar edge. They also watched for flashes of light from meteoroids striking the lunar surface, observations that could provide insight into potential hazards for future Moon missions.

By 9:35 p.m., the lunar observation period was complete and the Artemis II crew began the return trip home. On Tuesday, April 7, Orion will exit the lunar sphere of influence at approximately 1:25 p.m., at a distance of 41,072 miles from the Moon.