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<\/p>\nAlready champions of a new era of lunar exploration, tomorrow the Artemis II crew will embark on something never done before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The three Americans and one Canadian are chasing the new distance record for maximum range from Earth, previously set by the Apollo 13 in 1970.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It will make them Earth’s farthest emissaries as they swing around the Moon without stopping.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since taking off on Thursday, the crew has captured the attention of the world, with space enthusiasts eagerly receiving incredibly clear images of Earth from the spacecraft and the latest details of the mission.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The flyby, which is about 6 hours, promises views of the Moon’s far side that have previously been too dark to see by astronauts who preceded the crew.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here’s what you need to know.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What does the Moon orbit involve?<\/p>\n
On day six of the mission, which is early Tuesday Australian time, the astronauts will enter the “lunar sphere of influence”, when the Moon’s gravity will have a stronger pull on the spacecraft than Earth’s.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The path worked out by NASA follows a free-turn trajectory, meaning a path shaped by the gravity of Earth and the Moon will naturally swing the Orion around the Moon and back toward Earth without any major engine burns in lunar orbit, the European Space Agency says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If that goes smoothly, as the Orion flies around the Moon, the astronauts could set the record for venturing farther from Earth than any human before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Orion will then hang a U-turn and then head straight back home without stopping.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The Orion will follow this path before splashdown on April 10.\u00a0 (ABC News: StoryLab)<\/p>\n
What will the Artemis II crew see?<\/p>\n
The Artemis II crew will see the Moon from a unique vantage point compared with Apollo missions from the 1960s and 70s.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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This time, the Artemis II crew will be just over 4,000 miles (6,437 kilometres) at its closest approach above the lunar surface, which will allow the astronauts to see the complete, circular surface of the Moon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Earth will appear no larger than a basketball beyond the Moon’s shadowed far side.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There will also be a total solar eclipse that is not visible from Earth, but will treat astronauts to several minutes’ worth of views of the Sun’s outermost, radiating atmosphere, the corona.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They will lose contact with mission control for nearly an hour when they are behind the Moon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
NASA relies on its Deep Space Network to communicate with the crew during the mission but the antennas in California, Spain and Australia won’t have a direct line of sight when the Orion does disappear behind the Moon.<\/p>\n
What photos can we expect of the Moon?![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775453109_914_736f067c8fedc70f60acbcdcf7cc6cc4.jpeg\")
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A full portrait of Earth, as seen from the Orion spacecraft’s window. (AP: NASA)<\/p>\n
The astronauts will also take shifts in pairs to capture the lunar views out of the windows.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They will call down their observations as they photograph the scenes with a suite of professional cameras on board.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For more informal, spur of the moment pictures, each astronaut also has an iPhone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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To know what to capture, all astronauts have undertaken geology training with lunar flashcards to study before the flight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
NASA geologist Kelsey Young’s team made lunar geography flashcards for the astronauts to study before the flight.<\/p>\n
“They’ve practised for many, many, many months on visualisations of the Moon,” Young said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“And getting their eyes on the real thing, I’m really, really looking forward to them bringing the Moon a little closer to home on Monday.”<\/p>\n
How much farther is the Orion travelling than Apollo 13?![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/04f37765afb9b7595703f23879a9c786.jpeg\")
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This April 1970 photo shows the surface of the Moon as the Apollo 13 crew approached.\u00a0 (NASA via AP)<\/p>\n
In 1970, the Apollo 13 crew travelled 248,655 miles (400,171km) from Earth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Artemis II will reach a maximum distance of 252,757 miles (406,772km) from Earth, surpassing the record by about 4,102 miles (6,601km).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Apollo 13 was supposed to land on the Moon but an explosion on board forced the crew to abandon that mission and orbit the Moon instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Artemis II’s Christina Koch said late last week that she and her crewmates don’t live on superlatives, but it’s an important milestone “that people can understand and wrap their heads around,” merging the past with the present and even the future when new records are set.<\/p>\n
How much farther have uncrewed craft travelled?![\"Artist's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/3da706bb47da3385b057672418fcb7f6.jpeg\")
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