Artemis 2 Mission (Day 6)

Artemis 2 Mission (Day 6) - Video credit: NASA - RATING: U — UNIVERSAL (ALL AGES) – On April 6, 2026, NASA’s Artemis II mission reached a major milestone as the Orion spacecraft Integrity and its four?person crew entered the Moon’s sphere of gravitational influence, marking the start of the first human?circumlunar flight in over 50 years. Located about 12,712 miles from the Moon and traveling nearly 252,000 miles from Earth, the crew prepared for a carefully choreographed lunar flyby that would see them pass just 4,067 statute miles above the lunar surface and surpass the Apollo 13 distance record for the farthest humans have ever journeyed from Earth. The day’s event centered on a roughly seven?hour observation window, during which the astronauts systematically documented the Moon from Orion’s windows in five timed blocks, with two crew members at the windows at a time using a high?resolution 80–400 mm zoom lens and a portable computing device (PCD) for annotations and audio recordings. The lighting in Orion’s cabin was dimmed to reduce reflections, and the crew alternated roles each hour while the other two supported in?flight “science set reps” sent down to Mission Control in Houston. Deep behind the Moon, the astronauts spent about 40 minutes out of radio contact with Earth, photographing the lunar far side and scanning for impact flashes and possible lofted lunar dust, before re?emerging with views of an Earthrise over the lunar horizon and the return leg of the mission. During the flyby, the crew also experienced a unique solar eclipse from the Moon’s vicinity, with the Moon appearing much larger than the Sun in their sky, and captured vivid descriptions of the Moon’s luminescent limb, Earthshine, and the star?filled void of deep space. The historic moment was highlighted by live commentary from Apollo 8 veteran Jim Lovell, outreach to the crew’s families in the viewing gallery, and a post?flyby message from President Donald J. Trump, who praised the Artemis II team for making history and breaking the all?time distance record for humans in space. By the end of the day, the crew had downlinked thousands of images and voice notes, with NASA’s lunar science team already preparing a post?flyby debrief to mine the crew’s in?the?moment observations for insights that will shape Artemis III and beyond. International equivalents: MPAA: G | BBFC: U | CSA: Tous publics | FSK: 0 | CBFC: U | OFLC: G | CRTC: C | NICAM: AL No content that could disturb, frighten or harm children of any age. No violence beyond slapstick, no crude humour, no romantic content, no supernatural threat, no scary imagery, and no language beyond mild colloquial terms. Fully appropriate for unsupervised viewing by all ages, including infants. Content Warnings Required: None.

    2026-04-06
  • Apr 2026
  • 42m
  • 4 views
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