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Englishعربي
Englishعربي
The Artemis II astronauts have captured the first human views of the Moon's far side, marking a historic milestone as their spacecraft approaches the lunar sphere of influence on its path toward a record-breaking flyby. Four days into their 10-day mission, the crew—Americans Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman, and Victor Glover, along with Canadian Jeremy Hansen—transmitted images of the Orientale basin, a massive crater region that no human eyes had ever seen before.[1][2]
"Last night, we did have our first view of the Moon far side, and it was just absolutely spectacular," Koch, the mission specialist, said during a live interview from space.[1] The crew's photographs of the Orientale basin represent "the first time the entire basin has been seen with human eyes," according to NASA.[3] Mission specialist Koch emphasized the significance of the moment, stating: "It's very distinctive and no human eyes previously had seen this crater until today, really, when we were privileged enough to see it."[2]
As of early April 5, the Artemis II spacecraft had crossed the two-thirds mark of its journey, positioned nearly 321,869 kilometers from Earth and 131,966 kilometers from the Moon.[1] The next critical milestone arrived overnight from April 5 to April 6, when the astronauts entered the
If all proceeds as planned, the crew stands poised to set a new distance record from Earth. The Orion spacecraft will pass within just over 4,000 miles of the lunar surface at its closest approach, substantially farther out than Apollo missions, which flew approximately 70 miles above the surface.[2] This altitude will allow the astronauts to observe the complete circular surface of the Moon, including regions near both poles—perspectives never before available to human observers. The crew is also chasing Apollo 13's maximum distance from Earth, hoping to surpass that historic record by more than 4,100 miles.[2]
Before entering the lunar sphere of influence, the astronauts completed crucial preparations for their upcoming flyby. NASA reported that the Artemis crew conducted a manual piloting demonstration and reviewed their lunar flyby plan, including analyzing and photographing the surface features they will observe during their time circling the Moon.[2] Their six-hour lunar flyby is scheduled to begin on Monday afternoon, marking the culmination of a mission designed to test systems and procedures in preparation for eventual human landings on the lunar surface.