Why This Mission is Kind of a Big Deal
We haven't sent humans to the moon in over 50 years, but Artemis II isn't just a nostalgia trip—it’s a record-breaker. This 10-day mission is the ultimate stress test for the Orion’s life-support systems, paving the way for us to actually land on the lunar surface in the coming years.
The "Firsts" and "Mostests" of Artemis II:
- The Farthest Journey: The crew will travel about 250,000 miles from Earth, venturing further into deep space than any human in history.
- Breaking the Glass Ceiling (and the Atmosphere): Christina Koch is making history as the first woman on a lunar mission.
- A Historic Pilot: Victor Glover is the first Black astronaut assigned to a moon mission.
- Oh, Canada!: Jeremy Hansen is the first Canadian (and first non-American) to ever leave low Earth orbit for the moon.
- The Longest Total Solar Eclipse seen from Deep Space: Artemis II is poised to set the record for the longest total solar eclipse witnessed by human eyes in deep space. It’s the ultimate "right place, right time" moment—a 250,000-mile journey that just happens to intersect with the shadow of the Moon.
The goal? To prove that Orion can keep humans safe, hydrated, and breathing in the harsh environment of deep space so we can eventually build a permanent base on the moon and, one day, head to Mars.
*Here are my updates (posted in reverse chronological order) - fun, comical, and cool things I've observed in watching the Artemis II mission to the moon!*
Friday 10 April: Coming Down Over Down Under
Shortly before splashdown, the Integrity called down that they had a great view of Australia. Could you imagine seeing something so recognizable after being in such an out-of-this-world adventure for 10 days? I love these views from the visualization and the camera mounted on the Orion spacecraft.
Friday 10 April: Final Wake Up Call
To the left is the approximate times for the final day of the mission.
I've really enjoyed following the crew's wake up calls (when they happen successfully, at least), so I thought I'd take this chance to recap the songs used on Artemis II to wake the crew up each day.
Day 1: [none - not on board yet, but its launch day]
Day 2: "Sleepyhead" by Young & Sick
Day 3: "Give Me a Green Light" by John Legend
Day 4: "In a Daydream" by Freddy Jones Band
Day 5: "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan
Day 6: "Working Class Heroes (Work)" by CeeLo Green
Day 7: "Good Morning" by Mandisa and TobyMac
Day 8: "Tokyo Drifting" by Glass Animals and Denzel Curry
Day 9: "Under Pressure" by Queen and David Bowie
Day 10: "Lonesome Drifter" by Charley Crockett
What's your favorite song? Would you be happy to be woken up to these?
Thursday 9 April: "Smile!"
Once again in just a show of adorably humble humanity, these crazy kids were taking pictures of each other and were caught on video of their sheer joy. You can catch the whole ordeal on the Day 9 Highlights video here.
What was the shot? Well, we'll probably need to wait until it's all downloaded and posted, but they tried to show us first on the viewer on the camera itself and then with the live stream camera.
Wednesday 8 April: Purpose Joy
I loved these words from first-time space traveler Jeremy Hansen:
"And we have seen just some extraordinary things, things that I thought we would see, they looked similar to what I thought they might look like, and other things that I just had never even imagined. And those were different perspectives that we saw these things from. But I have to say, it hasn't changed my perspective or the perspective that I launched with, but the perspective I launched with was that we live on a fragile planet in the vacuum and the void of space. We know this from science. We're very fortunate to live on planet Earth. And another perspective that I've sort of learned from others through life is that... our purpose on the planet as humans is to find joy, to find the joy and lifting each other up by creating solutions together instead of destroying. And when you see it from out here, it doesn't change it. It just absolutely reaffirms that. "
Tuesday 7 April: Silence is Golden
On a broadcast with the President of the United States, the single Canadian was highlighted by a very typically bizarre rant from Trump, after which the astronauts, seemingly with nothing to say to such an incoherent and unintelligible rant, let the silence just hang heavy. The second-hand embarrassment and awkwardness was so real, it was honestly hard to watch a second time.
Honestly one of the best pieces of news was Trump admitting he probably won't be in office when we go to Mars. I think that's the first time he's indicated he's not intending to remain a dictator in perpetuity.
Monday 6 April: Lasting Tributes
Perhaps the most emotional display was in the touching moments when Jeremy Hansen, on behalf of the crew, requested to name two new craters which they identified and saw on the lunar flyby. The first name was Integrity, a tribute to the name of the Orion capsule which the crew had named.
The
naming of Carroll Crater on the Moon is a personal tribute by the
Artemis II crew to honor Carroll Taylor Wiseman, the late wife of
mission commander Reid Wiseman. Carroll Wiseman passed away from cancer
in 2020 at the age of 46.
The crew hugged with the show of emotion, one small example of the strong relationship these four have.
When asked about it later, in Reid's words:
"...It was a powerful moment up here as well. We, my crew mates, approached me when we were at Kennedy in in quarantine, and they said, 'Hey, we,' the three of them had talked, and they would like to do this, and that was an emotional moment for me. And I just thought that was that was just a total treasure that they had thought through this, and they had offered this. And I said, Absolutely, I would love that. I think that's just the best.
"And I said, but I can't give the speech. I can't give the talk. And Jeremy, the kind of guy he is, he said he would do it and and it was getting emotional there. And I think when Jeremy spelled Carroll's name, C, A, R, R, O, L, L, I think for me, that's when I was overwhelmed with emotion. And I looked over and Christina was crying. I put my hand down on Jeremy's hand as he was still talking, he was right there on that rail, and he, I could just tell he was trembling, and we all pretty much broke down right there.
"And just for me personally, that was, that was kind of the pinnacle moment of the mission. For me, that was, I think, where the four of us were the most forged, the most bonded, and we came out of that really focused on that day ahead. I think that was a very caging moment for the four of us.
"Thank you for that question, and it was a great moment."
Monday 6 April: Total Eclipse of the Heart
The lunar flyby photos are absolutely incredible, and you can see them and download them at the NASA Artemis Gallery webpage here. But I was totally obsessed with the eclipse, and the fact that they could see planets. This explanatory photo even indicates they captured a comet!!
Another thing that moved me that happened throughout the mission was the astronauts explanations and descriptions of the vastness and emptiness of space. I have had great experiences being quite alone in the wilderness and finding an unexpected thrill in the vastness and emptiness; the imagery I got from the astronauts' words were almost enough to imagine comprehending it. What a gift these four are to humanity!
And shout out to CAPCOM for quoting the alien in Project Hail Mary: "Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!"
Friday 3 April: Solar Opposites
During the press conference this afternoon, two beautiful photos were shown which were taken by Reid.
The first photo shows the Northern Lights (top right, green) and the Southern Lights (bottom left). This was something I only learned about a couple years ago when I sought to see the Aurora Borealis in Fairbanks. Because of the magnetic poles, there are mirrored phenomenon called Aurora Australis, or the Southern Lights. When I went to Tasmania, then, I monitored solar activity in hopes of seeing them. Indeed, I left Hobart the day before a spectacular showing visible from southern Tasmania. 😭
The second shot is just a beautiful graphic of the Earth and the Terminator line.
Friday 3 April: Say, "Cheese!"
The moon makes its first clear appearance on the onboard camera of the Orion spacecraft
As the crew began to get ready for the day, Christina asked CAPCOM about the storage location for the electric shaver, and added, "Asking for a friend."
Friday 3 April: We Slept In!
Remember that Seinfeld episode in which Kramer is supposed to wake up the guy before his race?
Yeah, that just happened, but in space. 😱 Gives a whole new meaning to, "Out of sight, out of mind." 🤦🏼♀️
The Artemis II crew was supposed to be woken up by a song around 1 Day 18 Hours into the mission. 25 minutes after that point, this happened:
Reid
Houston, Integrity on one, post sleep
CAPCOM
Good morning, Victor, go ahead
Reid
It must just be our speed. It's Reid changing the octave of my voice, I guess. Hey, just want to make sure you guys didn't juggle the schedule at all; we are just starting our post sleep now. We don't need to start working, but we do need to get some times done.
CAPCOM
Alright Reid, sorry about that. And sounds good.
Reid
And whenever you want to do some wake up music, we could use some post wake up music.
*four bars play and then the song cuts off before it gets to the lyrics about waking up and looking around at the sky*
Wake up song: "In a Daydream" by Freddy Jones Band
This resonates with me so much. I'm naturally an early riser, a when I'm on vacation with someone, I wake up early and try to be patient but start to get antsy. "Are you awake yet? Well you are now! Let's gooooo!"
Hear the whole exchange here:
Thursday 2 April: Point of No (Immediate) Return
Love these words from CAPCOM: "Integrity, Houston has completed the poll for TLI, when the engine ignites, you embark on humanity's lunar homecoming arc and set the course to return integrity and her crew safely home. Houston is go for TLI."
Thursday 2 April: Wake Me Up Before You Go Go
Here's a fun thing to do with the Artemis live feed: Use your favorite AI chatbot to ask how many hours and minutes ago the Artemis crew was last woken up (or whatever milestone you're interested in). Rewind the live feed by that many hours and minutes (looks like it maxes out at 12 hours) so you can see what you may have missed (or want to watch again).
A little more than 9 hours ago at the time of writing, the crew woke up to "Give Me a Green Light" by John Legend with some nice messages from the ground crews. See screenshot!
Before that, they were awoken to "Sleepyhead" by Young & Sick, but that's too many hours ago to rewind to now.
Thursday 2 April: Crescent Earth
I loved the view the crew woke up to right before the perigee raise burn early Thursday morning!
Wednesday 1 April: Toilet Troubles: A New Meaning of "No-Go"
It turns out that even in deep space, the most critical system check involves a plunger—or the high-tech equivalent. We officially hit a "character-building" milestone when the Collins-made Universal Waste Management System (UWMS) decided to stop cooperating, proving that space travel is 10% orbital mechanics and 90% dealing with things that shouldn't be floating.
The issue wasn't a software glitch; it was a stubborn mechanical failure in the separator pump. This critical component is responsible for separating liquids from air in microgravity. When it seized up, the system effectively became a "no-go" zone to prevent a localized environmental disaster inside the capsule.
While the situation felt like it came directly out of an episode of The Big Bang Theory, we didn't need Howard Wolowitz—we had Christina Koch. Channeling her inner "Space Plumber," Christina spent nearly five hours elbow-deep in the Orion’s service panel. She had to perform a delicate "surgical" replacement of the pump and internal filters while hovering in the cramped quarters of the cabin.
Thanks to Christina's space plumbing prowess, the crew of Artemis 2 can once again go #1.
Wednesday 1 April: No Foolin'
The SLS roared to life at 6:35 p.m. EDT on April 1, 2026, piercing the Florida sky to finally send the Orion and her crew toward their lunar homecoming. The countdown wasn't without its drama, however, as teams had to navigate a "No-Go" hold just minutes before the terminal count due to a technical issue with the Flight Termination System that kept everyone on the edge of their seats until the very last second.
It was a beautiful launch, and you can find plenty of coverage for it, of course. Here are two unique ones I liked.
And a 360° degree view:
Meet Rise!
The tradition of the Zero Gravity Indicator is as old as human spaceflight itself, beginning in 1961 when Yuri Gagarin tucked a small doll into his Vostok 1 capsule. These "stowaways" serve as the world's most charming telemetry sensors; once the engines cut and the spacecraft enters orbit, their sudden weightless dance provides a low-tech, visual confirmation that the crew has officially escaped Earth's pull. Over the decades, everything from Snoopy to Baby Yoda has taken the trip, but for Artemis II, the crew is sharing the cabin with a special guest named Rise.
Designed by eight-year-old Lucas Ye, Rise is a round, blushing moon mascot wearing a very clever baseball cap that represents our home planet. The crown of his hat is a plush Earth, while the visor is dusted with stars. Rise isn't just a passenger, though—he's a digital historian. Tucked inside a small zipper on his back is a micro-SD card carrying over three million names from NASA’s "Fly Your Name" program. His name is a direct tribute to the iconic Earthrise photo from Apollo 8, and as Orion streaks toward the lunar far side, Rise will be the first one to let us know we’ve arrived by performing his signature slow-motion backflips for the onboard cameras.
Let me know!
What has been your favorite wake up song or photo so far?
No comments:
Post a Comment