Koch also reflected on her family traditions. \u201cIf I was on the Earth right now, I would be with my family in Houston and we would be hiding confetti eggs in the backyard and watching two very sweet little girls go try to find them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The crew maintained the egg hunt tradition aboard the Orion spacecraft, hiding eggs around the cabin.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were dehydrated scrambled egg variety, but we\u2019re all pretty happy with them,\u201d Koch reported.<\/p>\n
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This image provided by NASA, astronaut and Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft’s main cabin windows, looking back at Earth, as the crew travels towards the Moon on Thursday, April 2, 2026. | NASA via the Associated Press<\/p>\n
At the time of Koch\u2019s Sunday message, the crew was 76,362 nautical miles from the moon and 168,000 miles from Earth, according to CBS News. The mission has already provided unexpected details of the lunar surface.<\/p>\n
Glover shared his own Easter message alongside the rest of the Artemis II crew: \u201cWhether you celebrate it or not, whether you believe in God or not \u2014 this is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are and that we are the same thing and that we got to get through this together.\u201d<\/p>\n
The primary goals of Artemis II are to test the Orion moonship and refine procedures for future lunar landings. The mission also includes a full schedule of scientific observations.<\/p>\n
Artemis II wake up calls with a twist![\"NASA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/21ea62073a7e0ee8e069f658cb0f1a9f.jpeg\"\/)
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In this photo provided by NASA, Artemis II mission specialist and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen enjoys a shave inside the Orion spacecraft during Flight Day 5 and ahead of the crew’s lunar flyby, Monday, April 6, 2026. | NASA via the Associated Press<\/p>\n
As the crew has gotten closer to reaching milestone moments on Monday, the crew has been woken up by a variety of songs from different artists, as is standard for the mission, but these wake up calls have started to include messages from previous astronauts.<\/p>\n
Sunday, the crew awoke<\/a> to CeeLo Green\u2019s \u201cWorking Class Heroes\u201d and a message from retired astronaut Charlie Duke<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHello Reid, Victor, Christina and Jeremy. This is Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke,\u201d he radioed. \u201cJohn Young and I landed on the moon in 1972 in a lunar module we name Orion. I\u2019m glad to see a different kind of Orion helping return humans to the moon.<\/p>\n On Monday, Day 6 of the mission, the crew was greeted by a message from Jim Lovell, the Apollo 8 pilot and Apollo 13 commander.<\/p>\n Lovell recorded the message before his death<\/a> in August 2025 at the age of 97.<\/p>\n \u201cWelcome to my old neighborhood,\u201d Lovell said in the recording. \u201cWhen Frank Borman, Bill Anders and I orbited the moon on Apollo 8, we got humanity\u2019s first up-close look at the moon and got a view of the home planet that inspired and united people around the world. I\u2019m proud to pass that torch on to you.\u201d<\/p>\n A milestone day<\/p>\n At approximately 1:57 p.m. EDT Monday afternoon, the crew became the humans to travel the farthest from the Earth, passing the record set by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970.<\/p>\n After breaking the record, Hansen relayed a challenge back to the next generation of space explorers, via NASA\u2019s livestream<\/a> of the mission:<\/p>\n \u201cWe most importantly choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long-lived.\u201d<\/p>\n Hansen also proposed names for two newly discovered lunar features: \u201cIntegrity,\u201d in honor of their spacecraft, and \u201cCarroll,\u201d in memory of Wiseman\u2019s late wife.<\/p>\n
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