NASA’s Artemis II mission nears its historic lunar flyby
The fifth day in space for Artemis II saw space suit tests, an Easter egg hunt and final preparations for an imminent close encounter with the moon
Earth’s sunlit crescent gleams against the blackness of space in this photograph taken by an Artemis II crew member during the mission’s outbound voyage to the moon.
NASA has launched four astronauts on a pioneering journey around the moon—the Artemis II mission. Follow our coverage here.
On Easter Sunday, the crew aboard NASA’s Artemis II mission began their fifth day in space with a wake-up tune from CeeLo Green’s “Working Class Heroes (Work).” They also received a message from Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke, who in 1972 left a family photo on the moon.
“Below you on the moon is a photo of my family,” Duke said. “I pray it reminds you that we in America and all of the world are cheering you on. Thanks to you and the whole team on the ground for building on our Apollo legacy with Artemis. Godspeed, and safe travels home.”
Following the wake-up call and an Easter egg hunt for caches of dehydrated scrambled eggs, the crew members—Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen, and Victor Glover—began their day’s work.
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On the fifth day, the astronauts tested the Orion crew survival system, known for their bright-orange space suits. These suits are designed to protect the astronauts during launch and splashdown and can provide up to six days of air in case of depressurization. Wiseman and Glover practiced putting on and pressurizing the suits as if in an emergency and maneuvered into their seats while wearing them. They also tested eating and drinking through a small port in the helmet.
Another significant event was an outbound trajectory correction burn at 11:03 P.M. EDT, to keep the spacecraft on course for the moon and back.
Early Monday morning at 12:41 A.M., the spacecraft entered the lunar sphere of influence, where the moon’s gravity exceeds that of Earth’s. Day six promises a long-awaited lunar rendezvous with a six-hour observation period starting at 2:45 P.M. During this time, the crew will observe the moon from as close as 4,070 miles, viewing parts of the far side for the first time with human eyes, targeting approximately 35 lunar sites, and capturing thousands of photographs. A solar eclipse is expected at 8:35 P.M., offering a rare chance to view the sun’s corona and possible micrometeoroid impacts on the lunar surface. At 1:56 P.M., Artemis II is set to break the distance record set by Apollo 13 in 1970, reaching its farthest point from Earth—252,760 miles—at 7:07 P.M., the furthest humans have traveled from our planet.
As of 9:30 A.M. on Monday, Artemis II was over 228,000 miles from Earth, about 46,000 miles from the moon, moving at around 1,426 miles per hour.
As the crew ventures farther from Earth, they become more reflective about what awaits them back home. The mission has already sent back breathtaking images of Earth from deep space, but more is anticipated.
“You are humbled,” said Canadian Space Agency astronaut and mission specialist Hansen during an interview with NBC News on Saturday. “The fact that four of us get to be out here just brings you to your knees…. There’s a lot of gratitude for the teams of people that made this possible.”
“Seeing [the moon] in a different way and just pairing that with how much we miss and love our families and knowing that they’re looking up and seeing the same moon, it’s a pretty amazing feeling,” said NASA astronaut and mission specialist Christina Koch during the same interview.
That feeling was especially poignant for mission commander Reid Wiseman, a NASA astronaut and widower who, shortly before the NBC News interview, had spoken with his two teenage daughters—his first chance to speak with them since launch. “It was surreal,” he told NBC News. “For a moment, I was reunited with my little family. It was just the greatest moment of my entire life.”
The crew’s emotions on the eve of Easter Sunday had echoed those of their predecessors on Apollo 8, who had read from the biblical book of Genesis while orbiting the moon on Christmas Eve in 1968. Speaking to CBS News in the closing hours of day four, NASA’s Victor Glover, pilot of Artemis II, used the moment to offer a heartfelt message of unity: Earth, our shared oasis in the void, is what has made their mission special—not the other way around.
“You guys are talking to us because we’re in a spaceship really far from Earth, but you’re on a spaceship called Earth that was created to give us a place to live in the universe,” he said. “Maybe the distance we are from you makes you think what we’re doing is special. But we’re the same distance from you, and I’m trying to tell you, just trust me, you are special…. As we go into Easter Sunday thinking about, you know, all the cultures all around the world—whether you celebrate it or not, whether you believe in God or not—this is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are and that we are the same thing and that we’ve got to get through this together.”
Huddled close in Orion, the four astronauts reached out to clasp hands as Glover finished speaking. The apex of their time together in space—the lunar flyby of day six—has almost arrived.
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