HOUSTON — NASA’s first astronaut close encounter with the moon in over 50 years will become a reality today (April 6), and you’ll be able to follow it live online. But you will need to know when to tune in and for how long, and for that, we’ve got you covered.
“The four of us have looked at the moon our entire lives, and the way we are responding to what we’re seeing out the window is just like we’re a bunch of kids up here,” Artemis 2 commander Reid Wiseman radioed to Mission Control late Sunday (April 5). “We cannot get enough of this. It’s amazing.”
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Wiseman and his Artemis 2 crewmates — pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen — will be the first humans to see the moon up close since NASA’s Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
They are the first astronauts to visit the moon in the 21st century, and they will see parts of the moon that NASA’s Apollo astronauts were never able to, like the poles of the far side. They’ll also see a rare solar eclipse from beyond the moon.
To help you know what to expect, here’s a timeline of NASA’s Artemis 2 moon flyby day, hour by hour.
Swipe to scroll horizontallyArtemis 2 moon flyby timeline
Time (in EDT/GMT)
Event
What to know
10:50 a.m. EDT / 1450 GMT
Artemis 2 crew wakes up
This begins Flight Day 6. Flyby day. NASA will play the crew a song.
1 p.m. EDT / 1700 GMT
NASA’s main livestream begins
This is a special broadcast. The 24/7 feed will transition to this.
1:56 p.m. EDT / 1756 GMT
Artemis 2 surpasses Apollo 13 distance record
The Orion ship will fly farther than Apollo 13, going beyond 248,655 miles from Earth.
2:10 p.m. EDT / 1810 GMT
Artemis 2 crew comments on beating Apollo 13 record
The Artemis 2 crew will comment on their new record, but we’ll get audio only.
2:15 p.m. EDT / 1815 GMT
Orion cabin configured for flyby
The astronauts will darken the cabin lights and prep cameras and other gear.
2:45 p.m. EDT / 1845 GMT
Seven-hour moon flyby observation period begins
The Artemis 2 crew will observe both near and far sides of the moon. The main phase lasts five hours.
4:35 p.m. EDT / 2035 GMT
Interior views of Orion
NASA will show inside views of Orion during the flyby.
Ongoing.
Observations continue.
The crew has 35 targets for 10 science objectives. They may see the Apollo 14 and Apollo 12 landing sites.
6:44 p.m. EDT / 2244 GMT
Loss of signal
NASA will temporarily lose contact with Artemis 2. It should last 40 minutes.
7:02 p.m. EDT / 2307 GMT
Artemis 2 closest to moon
Orion will be about 4,070 miles above the moon at closest approach.
7:07 p.m. EDT / 2307 GMT
Artemis 2 reaches its farthest point from Earth
Orion will be at its farthest from Earth, at about 252,760 miles away.
7:25 p.m. EDT / 2325 GMT
Reacquisition of signal
Mission Control should reacquire signal with Artemis 2.
8:35 p.m. EDT / 0035 GMT on April 7
Artemis 2 sees solar eclipse
The astronauts will see the moon block the sun in a total solar eclipse. It will last 53 minutes. They may also observe Mars, Mercury, Venus and Saturn.
9:20 p.m. EDT / 0120 GMT on April 7
Artemis 2 lunar flyby observation period ends
The flyby observing period ends. The crew begins sending some imagery to Earth.
9:32 p.m. EDT / 0132 GMT April 7
Solar eclipse period ends
The Artemis 2 crew finishes observing the sun’s corona and planets.
9:45 p.m. EDT / 0145 GMT April 7
NASA’s Moon Flyby Livestream ends
NASA’s special Artemis 2 moon flyby commentary ends, but 24/7 mission coverage continues
10:50 p.m. EDT / 0250 GMT April 7
Artemis 2 crew media event
The astronauts will speak to media or officials on the flyby.
2:05 a.m. EDT April 7 / 0607
Crew Sleep Begins
The Artemis 2 crew settles down to a well deserved rest for the day.
A screenshot of the Lunar Targeting Plan application that guides the Artemis 2 astronauts through their lunar science observations. This custom software was built by the crew lunar observations team, a subset of the Artemis 2 lunar science team. (Image credit: NASA)
Kelsey Young, Artemis 2 lunar science lead, said NASA has 10 science objectives and 35 different targets for the Artemis 2 crew to aim for during the flyby.
The astronauts will work in two-person shifts over five hours of the main flyby period. They’ll use a tablet-based Lunar Targeting Plan app to record voice observations of their targets while also taking potentially thousands of photos of moon craters, plains and mountains.
“We’ve got a jam-packed plan for them tomorrow, and it ultimately all traces down to our objectives,” Young said.
The astronauts have had several opportunities to observe the moon as they closed in on their lunar flyby. Based on their descriptions of the moon, NASA’s lunar science team can’t wait to hear the Artemis 2 crew’s observations from today’s flyby.
“They crushed it,” said Jennifer Hellmann, an Artemis 2 science team lead from NASA’s Ames Research Center in California. “We were excited for the flyby before, don’t get me wrong. But we are, like, super, super excited now because they’re so good! They’re so well trained; they know what they’re talking about.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 10:45 a.m. EDT (1445 GMT) with newly updated times and events for today’s Artemis 2 flyby.
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