Artemis II crew sets record for longest human spaceflight
The four astronauts of NASA’s Artemis II crew reached a point 348,655 miles from Earth, breaking the record for longest human spaceflight set by Apollo 13.
The mystique of the far side of the moon has become a little less mysterious.
Artemis II astronauts took part in a 10-day mission farther from Earth than anyone has ever seen before, giving them the first view of a side of the moon that cannot be seen on our home planet.
The dark side of the moon is so called because of its mysterious nature, but not because it is actually dark. The dark side, or far side, is never visible to observers on Earth because the time it takes for the Moon to orbit the Earth is approximately the same as the time it takes for the Moon to rotate around its own axis.
New photos shared by NASA show a never-before-seen view of the far side of the Moon and the Earth beyond. According to NASA, Artemis II astronauts Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Hammock Koch of NASA and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency are the first humans to see part of the underside with the naked eye. A striking photo is an “Earthset” where the Earth falls below the lunar horizon and a solar eclipse.
“Exceeding the furthest distance ever traveled by humans from Earth is a tribute to the extraordinary efforts and accomplishments of our predecessors in space exploration,” Hansen said. “Until Mother Earth succeeds in drawing us back to all that we hold dear, we will continue our journey further into space. But most importantly, we choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next so that this record does not last.”
What is the far side of the moon? Is it really dark?
The far side of the moon is the far side of the moon that can never be seen from Earth. According to NASA, the moon takes about 29 days to orbit the Earth once, and about the same amount of time to rotate on its axis. That’s why we on Earth always see the same part of the moon.
The far side of the moon isn’t actually dark. According to NASA, the moon receives as much sunlight as the side we see, and the only “dark side” of the moon is the side that doesn’t face the sun at any given time. In fact, when viewed from Earth, the far side has even fewer dark spots than what is visible on the far side. The dark spots on the far side of the moon are ancient lava flows.
We call it the dark side of the moon. Because it has been a complete mystery for a long time. We know more about it now than we did a century ago, but in some ways it’s still shrouded in mystery. However, the far side of the moon is still not fully understood.
Artemis II is not the first time astronauts have photographed the far side of the moon. Humans first saw the far side of the Moon in 1959, when the Soviet Union’s Luna 3 spacecraft took 29 photos of about 70% of the moon’s far side.
These first images captivated the public and scientists alike.
The 1972 Apollo 17 mission may have landed on the far side of the moon, according to the National Air and Space Museum. One possible landing site was a crater called Tsiolkovsky, named after a Russian rocket scientist. However, this location was considered too dangerous, as landing on the far side would make communication with Earth extremely difficult.
See new photos from the far side of the moon
Artemis II astronauts were able to get a unique close-up view of the far side of the Moon during the lunar flyby phase of their 10-day mission on April 6th. At this stage, the Sun, Moon, and Orion spacecraft had an hour to line up exactly in position, giving us a glimpse of an estimated 20 percent of the sunlit far side.
NASA said the Artemis II crew flew over the far side of the moon, documenting impact craters, ancient lava flows, and cracks and ridges on the surface. Their observations will help scientists understand the composition and history of the moon’s far side surface.
As the Orion spacecraft navigated the far side of the moon, astronauts witnessed “Earthset,” the moment when the Earth falls below the lunar horizon. As the spacecraft emerged from the opposite end of the moon, they saw an “Earthrise.”
They also observed a solar eclipse, where the sun almost disappeared behind the darkened moon. At that stage, NASA said, the crew observed six flashes of light produced by the meteorite impacting the moon’s surface while traveling at thousands of miles per hour.
Why did the communication go black?
The Artemis II mission placed astronauts in orbit around the moon, reaching a distance of 452,756 miles from Earth that no one has ever reached before. For 40 minutes during that trip, the Orion spacecraft was out of reach of Earthly communications.
It started on April 6th at approximately 6:45pm ET. The moon’s surface blocked signals between the spacecraft and Earth over the deep space network. When the spacecraft re-emerged from the far side of the moon, it quickly re-received the signal and was able to reconnect with its crew on the ground.
“As we prepare to retire radio communications, we will continue to feel your love from Earth. And to everyone on and around Earth, we love you from the moon. We’ll see you on the other side,” Artemis II pilot Victor Glover said on April 6.
During the outage, Orion made its closest approach to the moon around 7:00 pm ET, flying approximately 4,067 miles above the moon’s surface.
The communications blackout sounds ominous, but it was completely planned, NASA said. Similar power outages occurred during the Artemis I and Apollo missions.
Artemis II astronaut suggests name for crater
During the April 6 lunar flight, astronauts suggested names for features on the moon’s surface that are visible to the naked eye. In a heartfelt moment from space, they asked that one of the two craters be named “Carol” after Wiseman’s late wife, who passed away in 2020.
“I’d like to call you Carol,” Hansen said, her voice cracking as Wiseman patted her on the shoulder and wiped away her tears.
“Many years ago we began this journey. We lost a loved one in our close-knit astronaut family,” Hansen told air traffic controllers in Houston.
They proposed calling the other crater “Integrity” after the spaceship.
These names are just suggestions for now and will be submitted to the International Astronomical Union for consideration for formal naming.
