The Artemis II astronauts called Earth before setting behind the Moon

NASA reported this in its mission update on Artemis II.

The Artemis II crew addressed the public before Orion set behind the Moon. The astronauts sent a short message back to Earth: “We love you, from the Moon”, and mission specialist Christina Koch also spoke about future exploration, new spacecraft, scientific outposts, rovers, radio astronomy, and the development of companies and industry.

What happened near the Moon

NASA explained that Orion entered a planned blackout period, when the Moon blocks the Deep Space Network’s radio signal from Earth. This pause lasted around 40 minutes and is not considered an emergency, as similar phases have already occurred during previous lunar missions.

During this phase, the crew observed the ‘Earthset’ – the moment when the Earth dips below the lunar horizon. It was whilst flying behind the far side of the Moon that Orion approached the satellite and continued its manoeuvre, after which it began its return journey to Earth.

Separately, NASA reported that on 6 April, the sixth day of the mission, the Artemis II crew surpassed the previous record for the maximum distance a human has travelled from Earth, set during Apollo 13 in 1970. At the farthest point of the flight, Orion was approximately 252,756 miles from Earth.

According to Reuters, the crew comprises Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. After flying around the Moon, the spacecraft re-established contact with NASA’s Mission Control Centre in Houston, and the mission continued its flight towards Earth.

Artemis II became the first crewed mission near the Moon since the Apollo programme. NASA views this flight as a key test of Orion ahead of future Artemis programme missions.

It is worth noting that NASA has sent a crewed mission to fly around the Moon for the first time in over half a century. The Artemis II crew comprises four astronauts, who are set to fly around Earth’s satellite and return in around 10 days.