Artemis II Is Set to Orbit the Far Side of the Moon. Here’s What You Should Know

(SeaPRwire) –   The Artemis II crew has been piloting their spacecraft for four and a half days, assisted by a powerful ally: physics. Since igniting their main engine and departing Earth’s orbit on Thursday, April 2, they have followed a free-return trajectory. This precise path will carry them behind the moon’s far side and use its gravity to automatically slingshot them back toward Earth, targeting a return on April 10.

Today, April 6, marks the mission’s climax, as the crew makes its closest approach to the moon and sets a new human distance record. They will travel 4,700 miles beyond the lunar far side, exceeding the previous benchmark of 158 miles set by Apollo 13 in 1970, which earned that crew the title of farthest human travelers from Earth. Here is what else to know about today’s historic flyby.

The barnstorming begins

At 12:41 a.m. ET today, Artemis II crossed into the lunar sphere of influence, where the moon’s gravity began to exert a stronger pull on the spacecraft than Earth’s, now more distant, gravity. The crew did not feel this transition, and they slept through much of it, with a scheduled rest period starting at 2:20 a.m. Their wake-up call was set for 10:50 a.m.

Once awake, the four-person crew—commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen—will begin work to orient the spacecraft. They will position it so its windows face the moon, enabling them to survey and photograph surface features for mapping and geological study.

“Imagery will be captured by the cameras mounted externally on the Orion vehicle,” stated Kelsey Young, the Artemis II lunar science lead, “but the crew’s own descriptions are actually our highest priority data set.”

A record falls

Live coverage will commence at 1:00 p.m. on the NASA+ streaming platform and the NASA app, timed perfectly for the upcoming milestone. Shortly after, at 1:56 p.m., the crew will break the Apollo 13 record, reaching 252,757 miles from Earth compared to Apollo 13’s 248,655 miles. At 2:10 p.m., the astronauts will deliver remarks recognizing the new record and honoring the Apollo 13 crew. Jim Lovell, that mission’s commander and its last surviving member, passed away on August 7, 2025.

By 2:45 p.m., the crew will have finished aligning the spacecraft for optimal viewing through its five windows and will start their photographic and visual observations of the lunar surface. At 6:47 p.m., the spacecraft will pass completely behind the moon, initiating a 40-minute communications blackout where radio signals are blocked by the moon’s mass.

On Christmas Eve 1968, Apollo 8 became the first crewed spacecraft to orbit the moon. After 10 orbits, the crew fired its engine to leave orbit for home. This crucial maneuver occurred during the communications blackout, so mission control was unaware if it succeeded or if the crew was stranded. Only when the spacecraft emerged did Lovell, also on that flight, report the good news: “Houston, please be informed that there is a Santa Claus.”

Artemis II’s closest approach to the moon will happen during the blackout at 7:02 p.m., with the spacecraft just 4,066 miles above the lunar surface. While small compared to the quarter-million-mile journey, this distance is significant next to the Apollo orbits, which were as close as 60 miles. At 8:35 p.m., the crew will witness a dramatic solar eclipse as the moon passes in front of the sun.

Homecoming

The astronauts will finish their lunar observations at 9:20 p.m., and the solar eclipse will conclude at 9:32 p.m. At 10:50 p.m., the crew will conduct a live broadcast as physics guides their ship away from the moon and back to Earth. They are targeting a Pacific Ocean splashdown on April 10 at 8:07 p.m.—the first lunar crew splashdown since Apollo 17 returned on Dec. 19, 1972. Before departing the moon, that mission’s commander, Gene Cernan, said, “We leave as we came, and, God willing, we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind.” That return, 54 years later, is nearly complete.