NASA's Artemis II Mission Nears Lunar Flyby After Launch on April 1

m. ET from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying four astronauts: commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency. The Orion spacecraft is on a 10-day trajectory to orbit the Moon without landing, marking the farthest crewed flight from Earth.

This mission serves as a test for systems ahead of Artemis III, which aims to land humans on the Moon in 2026, and Artemis IV in 2028.

m. ET on April 5, the spacecraft was 206,482 miles from Earth, traveling at 1,771 mph, and approximately 75,000 miles from the Moon. The crew has crossed the halfway point between Earth and the Moon. NASA's Artemis Real-time Orbit Website (AROW) provides live updates on the spacecraft's position, distance from Earth and the Moon, and velocity, using data from onboard sensors transmitted to Mission Control in Houston.

The mission's lunar flyby is scheduled for April 6 in a six-hour window when the Sun, Moon, and Orion align, allowing the crew to view the far side of the Moon, which is not visible from Earth. During this period, the astronauts will conduct visual observations of the lunar surface as part of 10 NASA-prioritized scientific objectives.

The Moon will appear to the crew about the size of a basketball held at arm's length.

m. m. ET for their fifth day in space. In the afternoon, they planned to test the Orion Crew Survival System Suit, which includes safety technology and mobility features for launch, emergencies, lunar proximity, and high-speed reentry. Later that evening, they were set to perform an outbound trajectory correction burn to adjust the spacecraft's path and velocity.

The first trajectory correction burn, planned for April 3, was canceled after ground controllers determined the spacecraft was already on the correct flight path. Two additional burns remain scheduled during the mission. These maneuvers fine-tune Orion's trajectory for the lunar orbit and return to Earth.

The astronauts' primary tool for lunar study during the flyby will be their naked eyes, supplemented by onboard cameras. NASA lead scientist Kelsey Young stated that the human eye excels in detecting color, context, and photometric changes, such as how angled sunlight reveals lunar textures while altering visible colors.

Astronaut Victor Glover described the eyes as a "magical instrument" before launch.

To prepare, the crew underwent over two years of training, including classroom sessions, geological field trips to Iceland and Canada, and simulated lunar flybys. They memorized the Moon's "Big 15" key features for orientation and practiced observations using an inflatable Moon globe to study how sunlight affects surface colors and textures.

Young described the astronauts as trained "field scientists" ready to deliver detailed descriptions.

Scientific goals include observing specific lunar sites and phenomena to assess surface composition and history, such as detecting subtle colors like dark browns or tans. Noah Petro, head of NASA's planetary geology lab, expressed interest in whether the crew can discern these colors, which indicate lunar material properties.

David Kring of the Lunar and Planetary Institute noted that while probes and high-resolution images have mapped the Moon extensively since Apollo, live astronaut descriptions represent a rare event unseen by two generations.