Artemis II live updates as crew breaks Apollo 13 distance record, begins moon flyby

Reid Wiseman and Jeremy Hansen are the first pair of astronauts to observe the moon through Orion's windows during their flyby. One is tasked with taking photographs while the other records observations, NASA said, and they'll soon swap positions with Christina Koch and Victor Glover.

According to the agency, crew members use annotated diagrams like the one below "to identify high-priority targets" on the moon that may warrant a closer look.

Koch shared tidbits of Wiseman and Hansen's preliminary findings with mission controllers.

"One report from the crew at the windows, we can actually see the moon and Earth at the same time right now," she said, adding that the Earth "looks way brighter."

NASA has set a 2028 target for its next moon landing, which will take place well over 50 years after its last one, Apollo 17 – if it happens as planned.

"Crews train extensively for whatever rocket they're going to launch on, whatever spacecraft they're going to be in, just like these folks have for several years," retired NASA astronaut Linda Godwin told CBS News. "But there's still work to do to get to the lunar landing part."

One of the Artemis II mission's main objectives is to test equipment for future space exploration. 

Several countries are working on lunar landers, which will have to be flown and tested.

"It just takes time to redevelop the hardware, and we're going back in a slightly different way with a larger crew, a different capsule, a different landing destination," she said. "And this is still complicated to do."

The Artemis II crew proposed new names for two lunar craters as they continued the flight that's taking them around the far side of the moon.

Speaking to mission controllers, Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen suggested naming one crater "Integrity," after the name of their Orion spacecraft.

And in an emotional tribute, he said they chose the name "Carroll" for another moon crater, after commander Reid Wiseman's wife, who died of cancer in 2020. Hansen's crewmates could be seen wiping away tears as he shared the dedication.

"Some times of the moon's transit around Earth we will be able to see this," he said of the crater. "... And it's a bright spot on the moon. And we would like to call it Carroll."

Before launch, the science team had helped identify a few relatively fresh craters on the moon that had not been previously named. These two were among them.

The Artemis II crew has begun their lunar flyby. They're expected to see both the near and far sides of the moon during the observation period, which NASA expects will last more than six hours. 

Crew members will divide into pairs to observe the moon through the Orion spacecraft's windows, with each pair looking out for between 55 and 85 minutes before switching places.

As Artemis II broke the distance record set by Apollo 13, mission specialist Jeremy Hansen relayed a message from the crew that paid homage to the past and looked ahead to the future.

"From the cabin of Integrity, as we surpass the furthest distance humans have ever traveled from planet Earth, we do so honoring the extraordinary efforts and feats of our predecessors in human space exploration," Hansen said. "We will continue our journey even further into space before Mother Earth pulls us back into everything that we hold dear."

He added: "We challenge this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long-lived."

The Artemis II crew has broken the record for the farthest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth.

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, made history Monday as they surpassed the Apollo 13 distance record of 248,655 miles from Earth, which was set in 1970.  

It happened at 1:57 p.m. ET.

A fresh view of the moon as seen by the Artemis II astronauts shows features on both the near and far sides of Earth's companion.

The large circular feature at bottom left is Mare Orientale, a huge impact structure ringed by concentric mountain chains. Orientale straddles the line between the near and far sides of the moon, showing how the Artemis II astronauts are already getting a look at normally unseen features. 

Artemis II pilot Victor Glover told Mission Control on Monday that the crew was excited to be so close to finally accomplishing what they've been training for for so many years.

He also thanked them for the message from legendary astronaut Jim Lovell and said, "We have a pretty neat emblem up here. We have a patch that was flown on the Apollo 8 mission, and that patch is here on the Artemis II mission as well."

He said it was sent to them by Jim Lovell's son.

"We see the patch, and it's looking beautiful," Mission Control responded.

 Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman said, "I know it looks like a piece of paper in the camera there, but that is actually the original Apollo 8 patch printed on silk that they had done before they launched and they flew that with them on their journey around the moon and then the family handed it over to us. And it's just a real honor to have that on board with us. Let's go have a great day."

Artemis II astronaut Christina Koch said the Earthrise photo that the Apollo 8 crew took "has been instrumental both to our crew as our ethos of values, but also just personally to myself."

"I had the photo up in my room as a kid and it was part of what inspired me to keep working hard to achieve things I dreamed about," she said. 

Read more here.

On April 13, 1970, three days into NASA's third planned Apollo lunar landing mission, a short circuit inside a liquid oxygen tank in the Apollo 13 service module exploded, forcing the three-man crew to call off the planned landing. Instead, the astronauts had to rely on their lunar lander for an emergency return to Earth.

Like the Artemis II crew, Jim Lovell and his Apollo 13 crewmates - Fred Haise and Jack Swigert -- followed a "free-return trajectory," looping around the moon and using lunar gravity to bend the flight path back toward Earth and a Pacific Ocean splashdown.

In the process, the Apollo 13 crew set a distance record, reaching a point in space that was 248,655 miles from Earth, a record that has stood for the past 56 years.

Today, the Artemis II crew will sail more than 4,100 miles past that mark, setting a new distance-from-Earth record of 252,760 miles while looping around the moon on their own free-return trajectory. That milestone will occur at 7:07 p.m. ET. 

NASA has started live streaming today's portion of the historic Artemis II moon mission.

"Watch with us as the Artemis II astronauts make their closest approach to the Moon, traveling farther from Earth than ever before," the agency said on X.

Video showed the crew inside the spacecraft, as well as a view of the moon.

The following is a timeline for the Artemis II crew's flight around the far side of the moon, including the latest times for major events, in EDT:

Monday 

• 1:30 p.m.  Science officer in Mission Control briefs crew 
• 1:56 p.m.  The Orion spacecraft, Integrity, passes the Apollo 13 distance record: 248,655 miles
• 2:10 p.m.  Crew recognizes Apollo 13 distance record in TV coverage
• 2:15 p.m.  Crew configures Integrity's cabin for flyby operations
• 2:45 p.m.  Lunar observation period begins
• 4:35 p.m.  Interior views of the crew cabin during lunar flyby
• 6:44 p.m.  Loss of signal (40 minutes) as crew moves behind the moon
• 7:02 p.m.  Integrity makes its closest approach to the moon: 4,070 miles
• 7:07 p.m.  Integrity reaches maximum distance from Earth: 252,760 miles
• 7:25 p.m.  Earthrise
• 7:25 p.m.  Integrity moves back into contact with Earth
• 8:35 p.m.  Solar eclipse period begins
• 9:20 p.m.  Lunar observation period (flyby) concludes
• 9:32 p.m.  Solar eclipse period ends
• 9:45 p.m.  NASA ends special television coverage
• 10:50 p.m.  Artemis II crew talks about the fly by on NASA channels

Tuesday

• 2:05 a.m.   Crew sleep begins
• 1:25 p.m.   Orion exits lunar sphere of influence 41,072 miles from the moon

Crew members have watched the moon expand and the Earth become smaller as they've traveled farther along their journey. From roughly 180,000 miles away, commander Wiseman told CBS News senior national correspondent Mark Strassmann that the view "really put our place in the universe in perspective."

Glover, the pilot, said their new vantage point brought revelations about humanity.

"You're on a spaceship called Earth that was created to give us a place to live in the universe," he said. "Trust me, you are special in all of this emptiness. 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."

The Artemis II crew on Monday will spend three hours taking photos of the lunar landscape as they loop around the moon's far side and come within 4,000 miles of its surface. 

Paul Reichert, the mission's photography instructor, told CBS News' Mark Strassmann that the Artemis II crew will probably take more than 10,000 pictures of the moon during the three hours that they go around it. 

"You want to start at the side that the moon is disappearing first, because if you don't get that side, you're going to miss it, because you're going to travel past it," he said about capturing images.

To practice their photography, the crew sometimes used poster boards of the moon or an inflatable moon hanging from the ceiling.  

The crew on Monday will have their cameras ready to go, and still shots and video will both be taken, according to NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik. He said lights inside the spacecraft will probably be dimmed and lunar maps will be out. 

"It's the things that they see and choose to shoot with their camera – those are the things that will be most interesting to us when they come back," Bresnik told CBS News' Kris Van Cleave.  

He said he hopes to see an image that "inspires this generation of people to great things beyond Earth."

As the crew began preparing for Monday's flyby, they listened to a message that legendary astronaut Jim Lovell recorded before he died. 

Lovell, who died last August at 97, orbited the moon with Apollo 8 in 1968 and commanded the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission.

"Hello, Artemis II! This is Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell. Welcome to my old neighborhood!" Lovell said in the recording, which flight controllers in Houston beamed up to Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen shortly after they woke up.

"When Frank Borman, Bill Anders, and I orbited the Moon on Apollo 8, we got humanity's first up-close look at the Moon and got a view of the home planet that inspired and united people around the world," Lovell said. "I'm proud to pass that torch on to you — as you swing around the Moon and lay the groundwork for missions to Mars … for the benefit of all."

Lovell said he knew they would be busy today but reminded them "to enjoy the view."

"So, Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy, and all the great teams supporting you  – good luck and Godspeed from all of us here on the good Earth," he said.

Wiseman replied, "That was an awesome message from Jim Lovell. Very cool to hear him welcoming us to the neighborhood. It's going to be a great day."

The spacecraft communicator Amy Dill in mission control said, "That gave me chills, definitely one of my heroes."

NASA posted the recording on X. 

Artemis II is more than 245,400 miles from Earth, and less than 18,400 miles from the moon, NASA's real-time tracker showed late Monday morning. 

The tracker's latest update shows the Orion spacecraft speeding toward the moon at a velocity of 1,147 miles per hour. At this point, Earth looks like a dark sphere hovering behind it.

NASA said Monday morning that the Artemis II crew is awake and preparing for the lunar flyby.

"Morning routine: Wake up, shave, make the bed, witness something that's never before been seen by human eyes," the agency posted on X. "The Artemis II crew is preparing for today's lunar flyby, when they will see the Moon's far side."

The astronauts woke up 18,830 miles from the moon, to sounds of "Good Morning" by Mandisa and TobyMac.

NASA posted on X at 10:35 a.m. ET. The crew had been scheduled to wake up at 10:50.

NASA predicts the Artemis II will lose contact with Mission Control for about 40 minutes during the lunar flyby Monday evening. Planned communication outages like this "are sometimes welcome" for both Mission Control and astronaut crews, retired NASA astronaut and U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Cassidy told CBS News.

"Mission Control, they'll be dialed in making sure everything is perfect right before the moment of communication loss," Cassidy said, adding that once that moment comes, "those folks can take a break" while the Artemis II crew has a rare opportunity to be completely present on their flight.

"They'll know that they are the only eyes watching the safety of this vehicle, and they'll feel the onus of that responsibility all while they're looking out the window," he said. "Those are the moments where they're going to be the closest, and they can take those photos."

While communications are down, the crew is to make their closest approach to the moon, and to set a new record for the farthest distance traveled from our planet. They are also expected to see Earthset, when Earth appears to sink beneath the moon's horizon. 

In a radio message to Mission Control early Monday morning, Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman described the crew's excitement as he reflected on the view from the Orion spacecraft.

"The four of us have looked at this our entire lives. And the way we are responding to what we're seeing out the window, it's just like we're a bunch of little kids up here," Wiseman said. "We cannot get enough of this. It's amazing. Thank you for the privilege." 

NASA released an image that was taken Monday showing the moon through the window of the Orion spacecraft as the Artemis II crew drew closer.

The image was taken by the crew before they went to sleep on the fifth day of their journey.

NASA said the crew "entered the lunar sphere of influence" at 12:37 a.m. ET Monday, marking the point at which the moon's gravity had a stronger pull on them than the Earth's.  

The Artemis II crew is scheduled to wake up at 10:50 a.m. ET Monday, hours before they are expected to break a distance record and conduct a lunar flyby.

After reviewing details of the flyby during a briefing with Mission Control at 1:30 pm ET, the crew is set to make history when they reach 248,655 miles from Earth 26 minutes later, and keep going. That is the record set by Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert aboard Apollo 13 on April 15, 1970. 

The moon flyby will then begin at 2:45 p.m. Artemis II will observe both the near and far sides of the moon, ultimately making its closest approach — at 4,070 miles from the surface — at around 7 p.m. 

At that distance, NASA said the moon "will appear to the astronauts about the size of a basketball held at arm's length." They may become the first humans to see portions of the far side with an unaided eye, according to the agency.

Minutes later, the crew will reach their maximum distance from Earth: 252,760 miles. 

They'll also witness "Earthrise" and try to recreate the famous Apollo 8 photo that coined that name, as well as an hour-long solar eclipse. The flyby is due to end at 9:20 p.m.

NASA on Sunday released an image of the far side of the moon that the Artemis II crew captured the day before — the fourth day of the astronauts' journey.

The moon in the image is oriented upside down, with its South Pole facing upward and parts of its far side visible, according to NASA. The Orientale basin, a massive crater that's hard to see from Earth, is situated along the right edge of the moon in the picture, NASA said, adding that the Artemis II voyage marks the first time humans have ever seen the basin in full.

The Orientale basin will be an ongoing subject of study for members of the Orion spacecraft's four-person crew, which includes commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen.

Read more here.

Artemis II astronauts took time on Sunday to send Easter greetings to Earth, and had their own version of an egg hunt.

Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch said the crew had hidden eggs around the cabin to mark the holiday. "They were the dehydrated scrambled egg variety," she said, "but we're all pretty happy with them."

Overnight Saturday, Koch said the crew had switched from measuring their increasing distance from Earth to tracking their decreasing distance to the moon. The trip around the moon so far has yielded unexpected detail on its surface, giving scientists a taste of things to come when they pass over the lunar far side Monday.

Read more here.