NASA - Artemis II - Orion Integrity Flight Day 6 - Beyond the Moon - April 6, 2026 [6kbIpIkcU9k]
Broadcast of flight day 4/5 of NASA's Artemis II misison towards the Moon. As bandwidth allows, this stream will feature live views from Artemis II's Orion spacecraft, and mission control activity for the Artemis II mission, as it makes its journey around the Moon. This stream has flight day 6 in center. During flight day 6, the Orion is flying beyond the moon. On Monday, April 6, the four astronauts of Artemis II will travel farther from Earth than any humans in history—breaking the record set by Apollo 13 in 1970. They'll sail around the far side of the Moon, photographing lunar features never before seen by human eyes. At their closest point, they'll pass roughly 4,000 miles above the lunar surface. Highlights include: - 1:56 p.m. EDT (1756 UTC): Artemis II crew surpasses the Apollo 13 distance record - 2:45 p.m. EDT (1845 UTC): Lunar observation period begins - 6:47 p.m. EDT (2247 UTC): Predicted loss of communications as Artemis II heads behind the moon (roughly 40 minutes) - 7:02 p.m. EDT (2302 UTC): Artemis II's closest approach to the Moon - 7:05 p.m. EDT (2305 UTC): Artemis II reaches its furthest distance from Earth Viewers will see a real time visualization if there is a loss of signal, or if the bandwidth is needed for mission activities. The crew of Artemis II: Commander: Reid Wiseman - NASA 2nd Spaceflight - ISS Expedition 40/41 (May 29 through November 9, 2014). Pilot: Victor Glover - NASA 2nd Spaceflight - ISS Expedition 64/65 (Nov. 16, 2020 to May 2, 2021), completing 4 spacewalks Mission Specialist: Christina Koch - NASA 2nd Spaceflight - ISS Expedition 59, 60, and 61 (March 14, 2019, to February 6, 2020), completing 6 spacewalks totaling 42 hours and 15 minutes. She has spent a total of 328 days in space in one mission. Mission Specialist: Jeremy Hansen - CSA 1st Spaceflight - He will become the first Canadian to ever venture to the Moon. Four astronauts have been selected for NASA’s Artemis II mission: Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency. Artemis II will be NASA’s first crewed flight test of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft around the Moon to verify today’s capabilities for humans to explore deep space and pave the way for long-term exploration and science on the lunar surface. Artemis II is NASA’s first mission with crew aboard our foundational deep space rocket, the SLS (Space Launch System), and Orion spacecraft. It will confirm that all the spacecraft’s systems operate as designed, with crew aboard, in the actual environment of deep space. The mission will pave the way for lunar surface missions, establish long-term lunar science and exploration capabilities, and inspire the next generation of explorers – The Artemis Generation. The crew of four astronauts will lift off on the approximately 10-day mission from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, blazing beyond Earth’s grasp atop the agency’s mega Moon rocket. Over the course of about two days, they will check out Orion’s systems and perform a targeting demonstration test relatively close to Earth before beginning the trek toward the Moon. Orion’s European-built service module will give the spacecraft the big push needed to break free from Earth orbit and set course for the Moon. This trans-lunar injection burn will send the astronauts on an outbound trip of about four days, taking them around the far side of the Moon, where they will ultimately create a figure eight extending more than 230,000 miles from Earth. At their max distance, the crew will fly 4,600 miles beyond the Moon. During the approximate four-day return trip, the astronauts will continue to evaluate the spacecraft’s systems. Instead of requiring propulsion on the return, this fuel-efficient trajectory harnesses the Earth-Moon gravity field, ensuring that—after its trip around the far side of the Moon—Orion will be pulled back naturally by Earth’s gravity for the free return portion of the mission. The crew will endure the high-speed, high-temperature reentry through Earth’s atmosphere before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, where they will be met by a recovery team of NASA and Department of Defense personnel who will bring them back to shore. Following Artemis II, Orion and its crew will once again travel to the Moon, this time to make history when the next astronauts walk on the lunar surface during Artemis III. Through Artemis, NASA will explore more of the Moon than ever before and create an enduring presence in deep space.