Watch NASA's Artemis II mission fly by the moon

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Five days after its launch, NASA’s Artemis II mission is finally set to reach the moon today (April 6). While the four-person crew won’t touch down on the lunar surface as part of this mission, they will fly by the Earth’s nearest neighbor, coming to a distance of around 4,000 miles at its closest point. The lunar observation period is expected to last about seven hours, and you can follow along with our live blog here.

We’ve also embedded NASA’s broadcast below, which is set to kick off at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT). Here’s a look at what NASA says to expect for the timeline of events:

• 1:56 p.m. EDT (1756 UTC): Artemis II crew surpasses the Apollo 13 distance record
• 2:45 p.m. EDT (1845 UTC): Lunar observation period begins
• 6:47 p.m. EDT (2247 UTC): Predicted loss of communications as Artemis II heads behind the moon (roughly 40 minutes)
• 7:02 p.m. EDT (2302 UTC): Artemis II's closest approach to the Moon
• 7:05 p.m. EDT (2305 UTC): Artemis II reaches its furthest distance from Earth

This is the first time in more than 50 years that humans have flown near the moon, so we’re expecting to get some spectacular views. During the mission, the Artemis II crew will see parts of the moon that no human has witnessed before, including the poles of the far side. They may also see the Apollo 12 and Apollo 14 landing sites during observation.

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Tune in here at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) for the start of NASA’s coverage. If you’d like to follow along with our live blog, we’re set to start at 1:15 p.m. ET (10:15 a.m. PT).

• And there we go: Mission Control has confirmed loss of signal, as expected, as Artemis zips behind the far side of the moon. Expect them to emerge on the other side in about 40 minutes.
• Remember, this mission is just about the flyby. Next year, Artemis III will stay in earth orbit to practice docking maneuvers with the lunar lander. If that also goes successfully, Artemis IV is slated to land on the moon sometime in 2028.
• Per Mission Control just now, the spacecraft is about 4,500 miles above the moon, and about 30 minutes until the communications blackout (when Artemis passes on the far side of the moon). That was originally scheduled to start at 6:47 p.m. EDT, and is slated to last about 40 minutes.

• The crew is quickly approaching the moon and is expected to reach a little over 4,000 miles from the surface at their closest point. They’re definitely picking up much more detail through their cameras, pointing out that they’re now able to make out more of a difference between shadows and colors in the craters. Can’t wait to see some of the photos that come back once NASA publishes them.

  I’m handing you off to my colleague, John Falcone, for the rest of the Artemis II crew’s mission around the moon. Reminder — the crew is scheduled to experience a loss of signal at around 6:47 p.m. ET (3:47 p.m. PT), when the craft will pass behind the moon.

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• We’re definitely starting to get more visible details as the crew’s Orion spacecraft makes its way closer to the moon. The shot from the GoPro on the outside of the craft is now showing more detailed dimples and craters on the lunar surface. The craft is now about 5,000 miles away from the moon.

• The view hasn’t changed much over the last little while, but the Artemis crew is continuing to capture images and observations of the moon’s surface. Fun fact: The view of the moon we’ve been watching is from a GoPro camera mounted to one of the Orion craft’s solar arrays. The next major milestone for the trip is expected around 6:47 p.m. ET (3:47 p.m. PT), when the craft will go behind the moon. NASA expects a loss of signal for roughly 40 minutes.
• The crew is now around 6,000 miles away from the moon, and they’ll come within around 4,000 miles at their closest point. They’re still taking turns capturing photos and taking down observations about the lunar surface. While we can’t see the pictures they’re taking yet, NASA says it expects to have some to share later today. Reminder — you can watch the stream through NASA’s official broadcast below.

• If you’re nerdy like us, you might be wondering how the heck the crew on Orion is able to beam footage and comms back to Earth with such fidelity. NASA has a great overview, which includes a bit about its O2O optical infrared laser system that’s capable of sending high-bandwidth 4K video and images to Earth. We’ve come a long way from the ghostly, washed-out images beamed back from the Apollo missions.

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• Did you know you can get a virtual view of the Orion spacecraft’s location near the moon in real time? Check out NASA’s Artemis mission view, which includes real-time tracking of the craft’s speed, distance from Earth, distance to the moon and more. (They’re just over 7,000 miles from the moon right now.)
• Missed this earlier, but the crew opted to name features on the moon after their Orion spacecraft, Integrity, and commander Reid Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll.

• Here’s a look at the crew’s “Lunar Targeting Package,” which is what they use along the trip to orient themselves around what they’re looking at. Looks like there are a lot of features on the horizon!

• The crew is giving constant feedback to the team on the ground, describing the features that they can see from a distance of about 9,000 miles from the moon. Notably, one crew member said the more they look at the moon, the browner and browner it seems. Quite a description of something we typically think of as gray from our view on Earth!

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• If you’d prefer full-screen version of the Artemis feed (versus the split-screen with Mission Control), you can see that here.
• If you’re listening to the livestream audio, you’ll hear the astronauts giving some very low-level logistics on which specific cameras they’ll be using to shoot the lunar flyby. In addition to iPhones and GoPros, the Artemis crew is equipped with two Nikon D5s and a Nikon Z9.

• For the record, there are more than 650,000 viewers on the YouTube livestream right now. The livestream is also available on Netflix, if you’d prefer to watch it there.

• For those just checking in, the Artemis II mission crew consists of four astronauts. They include:

  • Commander Reid Wiseman
  • Pilot Victor Glover
  • Mission specialist Christina Koch
  • Mission specialist Jeremy Hansen

  They’re about 11,000 miles away from the moon right now. The next major step in the journey is the lunar flyby observation period, which is expected to start at 2:45 p.m. ET (11:45 a.m. PT). That’s when the crew will begin taking photos and noting observations about the lunar surface as they approach and, eventually, loop around the moon.

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• Here’s the moment it happened
• And there it is! The Artemis II crew has officially broken the record for the furthest distance traveled by humans from Earth. The previous record was set by Apollo 13 astronauts in 1970, when they traveled 248,655 miles from Earth. The Artemis crew is expected to travel more than 252,000 miles from Earth at their furthest point.
• In about 5 minutes, the crew will officially break the Apollo 13 astronauts' record for the furthest distance traveled from Earth by humans!
• Want a sneak peek at what the Artemis astronauts will see later today? Yesterday, NASA released this visualization of what it’ll look like for the crew as they pass around the moon.

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