The Artemis II mission wrapped up a historic seven-hour lunar flyby on Monday, 8th of April , 2026 marking humanity’s first return to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
The ten-day mission is crewed by NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, making this the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit in more than five decades.
During a planned 40-minute communications blackout as Orion passed behind the Moon, the spacecraft made its closest approach at around 4,067 miles above the surface, and two minutes later the crew reached a new record distance of 252,756 miles from Earth the farthest any humans have ever traveled in space.
As they flew over the Moon’s far side, the crew photographed and described terrain features including impact craters, ancient lava flows, and surface cracks and ridges formed as the Moon evolved over billions of years.
They also noted differences in color, brightness, and texture, providing clues that help scientists understand the composition and history of the lunar surface.
Toward the end of their observation period, the crew witnessed a solar eclipse from space as Orion, the Moon, and the Sun aligned, with the astronauts using the opportunity to study the solar corona glowing around the lunar edge and watch for flashes of light from meteoroids striking the surface.
The Artemis II crew has now completed the mission’s lunar observation period and begun the return trip home, with Orion expected to exit the lunar sphere of influence on Tuesday, April 7, at a distance of approximately 41,072 miles from the Moon.
Commander Reid Wiseman reflected on the profound scale of the experience, noting that while the International Space Station orbits just 250 nautical miles above Earth, this mission dealt with distances of 250,000 miles.
The Orion spacecraft, named “Integrity” by the crew, is scheduled to return to Earth on April 10, with the mission serving as a critical test flight supporting subsequent Artemis missions aimed at returning humans to the lunar surface.