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Artemis II Crew Observes Moon's Mysterious Far Side During Historic Flyby

The Artemis II crew has begun a seven-hour flyby of the Moon, making observations of the far side, including the mysterious Reiner Gamma swirl. Astronauts reported color nuances, like browns and blues, which will help scientists understand the mineral composition and age of lunar features. The mission has now broken the Apollo 13 record for the farthest distance humans have traveled from Earth, reaching over 252,752 miles. This mission is a critical step in NASA's plans to return humans to the lunar surface and advance deep space exploration.

Key Points: Artemis II Crew Begins Moon Flyby, Sees Never-Before-Seen Far Side

  • Crew observes Moon's far side
  • Studies mysterious Reiner Gamma swirl
  • Breaks Apollo 13's distance-from-Earth record
  • Reports color nuances for science
  • Mission key step for lunar return
3 min read

Artemis II crew begins seven hour flyby of Moon, observes far-side parts never seen by Humans

NASA's Artemis II astronauts conduct a 7-hour lunar flyby, observing mysterious features like Reiner Gamma and breaking the human distance-from-Earth record.

"The more I look at the moon, the browner and browner it looks. - Christina Koch"

Florida, April 7

The Artemis II crew has begun the seven-hour flyby of the moon, with Astronauts observing the far side of the moon never seen by Humans.

The crew is working in shifts as they make the necessary observations set by the NASA's science team that include future Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) mission landing site Reiner Gamma, a bright, mysterious swirl the origin of which scientists are still trying to understand, and Glushko, a bright, 27-mile-wide crater known for the white streaks that shoot out from it for up to 500 miles.

"The crew reported colour nuances, which will help enhance scientific understandings of the Moon. Shades of browns and blues that can be picked out with human eyes can help reveal the mineral composition of a feature and its age. As crew reports are received, the science team is updating the observation plan based on their follow-up questions and sending up new guidance to the crew," NASA said in a blog post.

NASA astronaut Christina Koch said that the moon appears to be browner, as opposed to the shades of white and grey seen from the earth.

"Something I just heard from the window team is 'the more I look at the moon, the browner and browner it looks,'" NASA astronaut Christina Koch said.

Christina Koch added that some of the moon's craters look like "a lampshade with tiny pinprick holes,"

"All the really bright, new craters -- some of them are super tiny, most of them are pretty small -- there's a couple that really stand out, obviously, and what it really looks like is a lampshade with tiny pinprick holes and the light shining through," she said.

The crew includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

The Artemis II mission has broken the record for the farthest distance travelled by humans from Earth, breaking the Apollo 13 mission's record of 248,655 miles

The Artemis II reached a maximum distance of 252,752 miles from Earth at 1:57 pm EDT, surpassing the Apollo 13's record in 1970 by about 4,102 miles, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said in a post on X.

Orion Spacecraft, carrying the Artemis II crew, is expected to reach its maximum distance from our planet at 7:07 p.m. ET.

The Artemis II mission marks a key step in NASA's plans to return humans to the Moon and advance future deep space exploration.

- ANI

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Reader Comments

S
Sarah B
Breaking the Apollo 13 record is a huge milestone. The engineering behind this is mind-boggling. As someone who followed the Apollo missions, seeing this new chapter unfold is thrilling. The international crew is also a great sign of collaboration.
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Priya S
Wow! The "lampshade" description of the craters is so vivid. It's one thing to see robotic images, another to have human eyes describe it. This kind of observation is priceless for science. Hope ISRO and NASA can share more data from such missions.
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Rohit P
Fantastic achievement, no doubt. But I do hope the immense resources going into Artemis also translate into more direct benefits for solving problems on Earth. Climate change and poverty need urgent attention too. The science is great, but let's keep perspective.
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Karthik V
Reiner Gamma and Glushko crater! These are names we read about in textbooks. To have astronauts observing them in real-time is history in the making. The future CLPS missions will benefit so much from this. Jai Vigyan! 🇮🇳
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Michael C
The shift work and real-time updates to the observation plan show how dynamic and human-driven this mission is. It's not just a pre-programmed flight. Christina Koch's commentary is making the moon feel so much more real and tangible. Amazing stuff.

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