The Artemis II astronauts will set a new distance record from Earth today
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Science Close Science Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Science Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Science News Close News Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All News Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All News Space Close Space Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Space Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Space The Artemis II astronauts will set a new distance record from Earth today As the Orion spacecraft travels around the Moon, the Artemis II crew will break a record set by Apollo 13 in 1970. As the Orion spacecraft travels around the Moon, the Artemis II crew will break a record set by Apollo 13 in 1970. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All by Andrew Liszewski Link Share Gift Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All by Andrew Liszewski On April 15th, 1970, Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert set a distance record when Apollo 13 traveled 248,655 miles from Earth. Nearly 56 years later, the crew of Artemis II is expected to break that record by several thousand miles when the Orion spacecraft reaches a maximum distance of 252,757 miles away from Earth later today as it completes its flight around the far side of the Moon. NASA’s coverage of the lunar flyby begins at 1PM ET today if you want to follow along at home , while the astronauts are expected to set the new distance record from Earth at 1:56PM ET. The trip around the far side of the Moon will take about six hours and include observations of the lunar surface never before seen by humans, as well as surveys to identify possible landing locations for future missions. The Artemis II crew will lose communications with Earth for about 40 minutes starting at 6:44PM ET as they pass behind the Moon until 7:25PM ET when our planet will come back into view for them. The mission’s itinerary for today includes the following notable events: 1:56PM ET: The crew will set a new record for the farthest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth. 2:15PM ET: The crew will reconfigure the spacecraft’s cabin for “flyby operations.” 2:45PM ET: Lunar observation begin. 6:44PM ET: The predicted loss of communications begins as Orion heads behind the Moon. 7:02PM ET: Orion will make its closest approach to the Moon at 4,070 miles. 7:07PM ET: Orion will reach its maximum distance from Earth at 252,757 miles. 7:25PM ET: Communications with Earth are predicted to resume as Orion reemerges from behind the Moon. 8:25–9:32PM ET: The crew will experience a solar eclipse as the Sun passes behind the Moon from their perspective. 9:20PM ET: The lunar observations conclude. Today’s Artemis II lunar flyby will be livestreamed on Netflix. In addition to the laser-based Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System the spacecraft uses to transmit science and crew data back to Earth, more traditional radio-based communication systems are still in use. These include the Near Space Network that relies on global ground stations and relay satellites, as well as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Deep Space Network that will restore Orion’s communications with mission control when it reemerges from behind the Moon. At that time, the astronauts will attempt to replicate the iconic “Earthrise” photo, which was captured during the Apollo 8 mission on December 24th, 1968, over 57 years ago. Following a 17.5-second “outbound correction burn to refine the Orion spacecraft’s trajectory” that began last night just after 11PM ET, the Artemis II mission entered the Moon’s “sphere of influence” at around 12:41AM ET this morning, making the Moon’s gravity the “dominant force controlling Orion’s trajectory,” according to a NASA update . Following the trip around the Moon, the Orion capsule will spend the next four days on a return trip to Earth, with NASA targeting April 10th for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego. Andrew Liszewski Close Andrew Liszewski Senior Reporter, News Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All by Andrew Liszewski Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All by Andrew Liszewski NASA Close NASA Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All NASA Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All NASA News Close News Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All News Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All News Science Close Science Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Science Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Science Space Close Space Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Space Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Space More in: NASA’s Artemis II mission to fly around the far side of the Moon Most Popular Is the Slate Truck too minimal for its own good? Logitech’s haptics-enhanced MX Master 4 mouse is on sale for under $100 Suno is a music copyright nightmare Can AI responses be influenced? The SEO industry is trying Buy two Nintendo Switch games, get $30 off at Target The Verge Daily A free daily digest of the news that matters most. This is the title for the native ad