NASA's Artemis II Crew Prepares for Record-Breaking Lunar Flyby and Far Side Views

NASA's Artemis II crew entered their fifth day in space on Sunday, April 5, 2026, with the Orion spacecraft approximately 346,000 kilometers from Earth and closing in on the Moon ahead of a historic lunar flyby scheduled for Monday, April 6. Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen have already glimpsed portions of the Moon's far side — a hemisphere never before observed directly by human eyes — including the Orientale basin, a vast impact crater sometimes called the "Grand Canyon of the Moon." The crew launched from Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, April 1, making them the first astronauts bound for the Moon in more than half a century. The mission is on track to set an absolute record for human spaceflight distance when the Orion capsule reaches a maximum of from Earth during Monday's flyby. NASA chief Jared Isaacman described the flyby as a critical data-gathering opportunity, saying the agency would "learn a tremendous amount about the spacecraft."

„No human eye had really seen this crater until today, when we had the privilege of seeing it.” — Christina Koch via La Libre.be

Artemis II is the first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17, which flew in 1972. The Apollo program concluded that year after a series of Moon landings beginning in 1969. The Artemis program is NASA's effort to return humans to the lunar surface, with the longer-term goal of establishing a permanent base on the Moon as a staging point for future deep-space exploration. Apollo 17 astronaut Charles Duke, now 90 years old, sent a message to the Artemis II crew wishing them a safe journey and return, describing the mission as perpetuating the legacy of Apollo.

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Toilet troubles become the mission's most persistent headache The most disruptive technical issue of the mission has not involved propulsion or navigation but the spacecraft's toilet, the Universal Waste Management System, which malfunctioned on the very first day of flight and has continued to cause problems. Engineers at Mission Control determined that the toilet's pump had not been primed with enough water, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch — who declared herself the "space plumber" — worked to restore it with guidance from the ground. A second problem emerged when a wastewater dump stopped prematurely; NASA suspected that ice had formed in the vent nozzle that allows urine to drain into space. Mission Control instructed the crew to suspend urination through the toilet system while engineers troubleshot the blockage, with astronauts falling back on Collapsible Contingency Urinals as a backup. Solid waste collection was unaffected, as those materials are gathered in sealed, watertight bags. Debbie Korth, NASA's Orion deputy program manager, noted that the urine storage tank aboard Orion is roughly the size of a small office trash can, making regular dumps essential. John Honeycutt, chair of the mission management team, said the crew was managing the situation and that their morale remained high.

„Space toilets and bathrooms are something everybody can really understand ... it's always a challenge.” — Debbie Korth via The Guardian

Monday flyby to offer six hours of unobstructed lunar views The central event of the Artemis II mission is set to occur on Monday, April 6, when the Orion capsule swings around the far side of the Moon and the crew enters what NASA calls the lunar sphere of influence. For six hours during the flyby, the windows of the Orion capsule will point directly at the lunar surface, giving the four astronauts an unobstructed view of terrain that no human crew has ever observed at close range. Unlike the Apollo missions, which passed at an altitude of approximately 110 kilometers above the Moon's surface, Artemis II will remain at roughly 6,500 kilometers, giving the crew a view of the Moon's full disk, including its polar regions. During the flyby, the crew will lose radio contact with Mission Control for approximately 40 minutes — a planned and expected communications blackout as Orion passes behind the Moon. All four crew members have trained for more than two years to study and describe geological formations, and their observations and photographs are expected to contribute to scientific understanding of the Moon's geology and history. The flyby will be broadcast live, with the exception of the 40-minute blackout window.

„The fact that only the four of us are here brings you to your knees.” — Jeremy Hansen via El Confidencial

iPhone cameras and laser links keep the public watching from Earth NASA has made public engagement a central element of the Artemis II mission, streaming footage via YouTube, hosting live press conferences from space, and releasing photographs taken by the crew aboard Orion. Some of those images were captured using iPhone 17 Pro Max devices, including selfies taken by the astronauts and a photograph of the Orientale basin on the Moon's surface — described by NASA as the first time the basin had been seen in full by human eyes. Commander Reid Wiseman posted one image to social media with the caption "No words," according to reporting by TechRadar. The Orion capsule is also equipped with laser communication technology that allows high-speed data transfer back to Earth. Victor Glover reported to Mission Control that "the Earth is quite small, and the moon is definitely getting bigger" after the spacecraft fired a key thruster to exit Earth's orbit. Wiseman described a live call with his daughters from space as "the greatest moment of my entire life," according to The Guardian. If the mission concludes as planned, the Orion capsule will splash down off the coast of San Diego, California, on April 10 or 11, 2026, with TechRadar reporting that the reentry will set another record — the fastest crewed atmospheric entry in history, at approximately 40,234 kilometers per hour.

„We're up here, we're so far away, and for a moment, I was reunited with my little family. It was just the greatest moment of my entire life.” — Reid Wiseman via The Guardian