Artemis II astronauts to fly around the Moon and go further from Earth than any humans before – follow live
Seatbelts fastened? Here are the key timingspublished at 16:38 BST
Pallab Ghosh
Science correspondent, reporting from Florida
Image source, NASA
If you’re following along today, this is what to look out for as you follow the Artemis II crew’s trip around the Moon.
Through this afternoon, Orion will slip fully into the Moon’s gravitational pull and the crew will wake to begin setting up the cabin for the flyby, running through camera check outs and rehearsal calls with the flight controllers in Houston, where my colleagues Rebecca Morelle, Alison Francis and Kevin Church are reporting from.
From 18:00 BST (17:00 GMT; 13:00 EDT), there will be the build to beating Apollo 13’s distance record as they sail past 248,655 miles (400,171km) from Earth.
Look out for sharper, more dramatic views of the lunar surface filling the spacecraft windows.
Artemis II will pass behind the Moon at 23:44 BST (22:44 GMT; 18:44 EDT) and reappear from the other side at 00:25 BST (23:25 GMT 19:25 EDT). As it swings behind the Moon there will be an eerie, planned silence of around 40 minutes when radio contact will drop.
Despite the flawless performance of the mission so far, it will still be an anxious wait for mission managers, the astronauts’ families , and indeed all of us – as we wait for a cheery call sign from Reid Wiseman when contact is restored.
Not long after it re-emerges, there’s a chance of a one-hour solar eclipse from the crew’s point of view – the Moon sliding in front of the Sun.
For those who want to stay up late, a live downlink with the crew will begin at 02:50 GMT, where we hear from them what it was like to go to the Moon’s far side and see spectacular views that even the Apollo astronauts have not seen before.
