The Artemis II astronauts are chatting it up with their friends aboard the International Space Station. Still aglow from their triumphant lunar flyby, the three Americans and one Canadian put in a call to their station colleagues Tuesday while heading home from the moon. It's the first such moonship-to-spaceship radio linkup ever. "We have been waiting for this like you can't imagine," the commander Reid Wiseman said. NASA's Apollo moonshots had no off-the-planet company back in the 1960s and 1970s. For Artemis II's Christina Koch and the station's Jessica Meir, it was a joyous space reunion despite being 230,000 miles apart. The two teamed up for the world's first all-female spacewalk in 2019.
From
To
The Artemis II astronauts have kicked off their record-breaking trip around the moon that already is providing unprecedented views of the far side. Monday's lunar journey comes after the three Americans and one Canadian broke Apollo 13's distance record, the farthest that humans have ever traveled from Earth. During the hourslong flyby, Artemis II will temporarily lose contact with Mission Control as the capsule passes behind the moon without stopping. Astronauts will split into pairs and take turns capturing the magnificent lunar scenes with cameras. They'll also don special glasses to witness a total solar eclipse.
The Artemis II astronauts have captured Earth's brilliant blue beauty as they zoom ever closer to the moon. NASA released the crew's first downlinked images Friday, 1 1/2 days into the first astronaut moonshot in more than half a century. The first photo taken by commander Reid Wiseman shows a curved slice of Earth in one of the capsule's windows. The second shows the entire globe with the oceans topped by swirling white tendrils of clouds. It even includes a pale green aurora. As of midday Friday, the crew was 100,000 miles from Earth and quickly gaining on the moon.
The replacements for the astronauts involved in NASA's first medical evacuation are on their way to the International Space Station. SpaceX launched the fresh crew on Friday from Florida. The four astronauts are representing the U.S., France and Russia and should reach the orbiting lab Saturday. They'll fill the vacancies left by their evacuated colleagues. NASA had to put spacewalks on hold and defer other duties after an unidentified astronaut experienced a serious medical issue in January. The entire crew returned to Earth more than a month early, leaving three astronauts in orbit.
A NASA spacecraft will make its second close brush with the sun. The Parker Solar Probe made its record-breaking first pass within 3.8 million miles of the scorching sun in December, flying closer than any object sent before. Parker will attempt the journey again on Saturday. Scientists hope the data from Parker will help them better understand the sun's outer atmosphere and what drives the solar wind. Parker was launched in 2018 to get a close-up look at the sun and is the fastest spacecraft built by humans.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Landing a spacecraft on the moon has long been a series of hits and misses.
A privately owned lunar lander has touched down on the moon. But flight controllers in Texas cannot confirm its condition or whether it's even upright near the south pole. The last time Intuitive Machines landed a spacecraft on the moon, a year ago, it ended up sideways. The company's newest Athena lander dropped out of lunar orbit as planned Thursday, carrying an ice drill, a drone and two rovers for NASA and others. The descent appeared to go well. But it took a while for Mission Control to confirm touchdown. More than an hour after landing, the Houston company had yet to provide an update.
On Feb. 20, 1962, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth as he flew aboard Project Mercury's Friendship 7 spacecraft, which circled the globe three times in a flight lasting 4 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds before splashing down safely in the Atlantic Ocean about 200 miles northwest of Puerto Rico.
