The Artemis II crew has begun a historic flyby of the Moon’s far side, marking the first time humans have witnessed the hidden hemisphere.
The six-hour maneuver is the highlight of NASA’s first return to lunar orbit since the Apollo era, with astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Jeremy Hansen, paving the way for a planned landing near the Moon’s south pole within the next two years.
The milestone comes after the crew shattered distance records, traveling 252,757 miles from Earth at 1.57pm ET, farther than any humans in history.
Apollo 13 previously held the record, reaching 248,655 miles from Earth during its dramatic emergency return mission in 1970.
As the astronauts swept over the far side in the Orion capsule, they reported seeing striking geometric patterns, winding formations they deemed ‘squiggles’ and unexpected shades of green and brown across the rugged lunar terrain.
The Moon’s far side permanently faces away from Earth, compared to the familiar near side that features heavily cratered landscapes, a thicker crust and fewer of the dark volcanic plains visible from our planet.
The astronauts have spotted newly formed craters on the lunar surface that stand out like tiny holes in a lampshade, Koch told the NASA control room as the crew conducted its flyby.
‘All the really bright, new craters, some of them are super tiny, most of them are pretty small, there’s a couple that really stand out, obviously, and what it really looks like is a lampshade with tiny pinprick holes and the light shining through,’ she said.
Glover has been relaying what the team has witnessed from the windows, telling Mission Control that they are seeing ‘an island of terrain completely surrounded by darkness.’
‘Up to the north, there is a very nice double crater. It looks like a snowman just sitting there,’ he continued.
‘On the southern edge, there is a hole. Just blackness and a wall of brightness. It looks like there is a gigantic hole right there.’
While observing one large impact basin, Glover noted a striking contrast between its outer and inner rings.
‘When you look at the interior ring and the external ring, it’s almost as if the edges are starting to dry up,’ Glover said, comparing the formation to a wet spot that dries first around the edges.
He also highlighted several surface features that appeared to resemble mountain peaks ‘dusted with snow’ or chalk, a visual comparison rather than a literal description of the lunar terrain.
Koch shared some thoughtful remarks after spending time photographing the lunar surface.
‘I just had an overwhelming sense of being moved by looking at the Moon,’ she said of one moment toward the end of her observation rotation,’ she said.
‘It lasted just a second or two, and I actually couldn’t even make it happen again. But something just drew me in suddenly to the lunar landscape, and it became real.’
Koch had a philosophical takeaway from her time at Orion’s window, as well.
‘The truth is, the Moon really is its own body in the universe, it’s not just a poster in the sky,’ she said.
‘It is a real place. And when we have that perspective, and we compare it to our home, Earth, it just reminds us how much we have in common. Everything we need, Earth provides. And that is somewhat of a miracle, and one that you can’t truly know until you’ve had the perspective of the other.’
The Artemis II milestones are just several historic moments on Monday, as the astronauts will also be just 4,070 miles from the lunar surface.
Later in the mission, the crew is also set to witness a rare solar eclipse from lunar orbit, beginning at 8.35pm ET and lasting roughly one hour.
Capsule communicator Jenni Gibbons radioed to the Artemis II crew from Mission Control: ‘On April 15, 1970, during the Apollo 13 mission, three explorers set the record for the farthest distance humans have ever traveled from our home planet.
‘At that time, over 55 years ago, Lovell, Swigert and Haise flew 248,655 statute miles away from Earth. Today, for all humanity, you’re pushing beyond that frontier.’
NASA flight director Brandon Lloyd and others also marked the milestone by emailing the crew with ‘the longest person-to-person message ever sent in human history.’
Wiseman’s family watched the historic moment unfold from the viewing gallery on the ground.
When mission control told him his two daughters were smiling as they saw their father on a big screen, the commander responded by forming his hands into a heart, a quiet sign of love sent across more than 250,000 miles of space.
Weisman then radioed to NASA’s Mission Control: ‘From the cabin of Integrity, as we surpass the farthest distance humans have ever traveled from planet Earth, we do so in honor of the extraordinary efforts and achievements of those who came before us in human space exploration.
‘We will continue our journey even farther before Mother Earth succeeds in pulling us back to everything we hold dear, but we must use this moment to challenge this generation and the next to ensure this record is not long-lived.’
Moments after breaking the Apollo record, Hansen got on the radio to announce two newly named craters.
One crater was named Integrity, after the Orion capsule used by the crew during the historic mission.
‘If you were to look at Orientale on the far side and then draw a line straight up to Ohm on the far side, relatively in the middle is an unnamed crater, and we would like to suggest it be called Integrity,’ Hansen said.
But the most emotional moment came when Hansen revealed the name of a second crater. ‘It’s a bright spot on the Moon, and we would like to call it Carroll,’ he said.
Wiseman and Koch could be seen wiping away tears.
The announcement prompted the astronauts to embrace, while mission control in Houston fell silent in a rare moment of reflection.
