The Artemis II astronauts are gearing up for their lunar flyby on Monday, when they will travel the farthest humans have ever gone from Earth.
People can follow along on the crew’s journey through several platforms.
How can I watch the lunar flyby?
To watch live coverage of the Artemis II lunar flyby, you can watch NASA+, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Hulu, Netflix, HBO Max and Roku starting 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
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NASA also has 24/7 coverage of the mission on its YouTube channel.
What will happen during the lunar flyby?
At 12:41 a.m., the Orion spacecraft will be 41,072 miles from the Moon, and enter the lunar sphere of influence, according to NASA.
Then, at 1:30 p.m., the science officer in mission control will brief the astronauts on their goals for the flyby.
Around 2:45 p.m., lunar observations are set to begin.
Orion is expected to pass behind the Moon at 6:44 p.m. NASA’s Mission Control Center will temporarily lose communication with the crew at that point. That’s because the lunar surface blocks the necessary radio signals for the Deep Space Network to connect with the spacecraft. These kinds of blackouts also happened during the Artemis I and Apollo missions, NASA said.
A little less than 20 minutes after that, the crew will get to its “closest approach to the Moon” — 4,070 miles above the surface. Artemis II crew members will reach the maximum distance from earth at 7:07 p.m., (252,760 miles), effectively breaking the record set by Apollo 13 (248,655) in April 1970.
Mission control should be able to communicate with the astronauts again at 7:25 p.m.
From 8:35p.m. to 9:32 p.m., the sun will pass behind the moon from the crew’s perspective because of a solar eclipse.
Lunar observations are scheduled to end at 9:20 p.m.
On Tuesday, 1:25 p.m., Orion leaves the lunar sphere of influence.
What did the astronauts do to prepare?
NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen spent day five of the mission getting ready for the lunar flyby. They got a demonstration of the Orion crew survival system spacesuit, and will also review final science targets and get ready for the final trajectory correction burn.
To test their Orion Crew Survival System, Wiseman, Glover, Koch and Hansen did leak checks, simulated seat entry and assessed the bright orange’s suit mobility, as well as their ability to eat and drink.
The Orion Crew Suvival System suit, NASA said, protects astronauts “during dynamic phases of flight and provides life support in the event of cabin depressurization and survival operations after splashdown.”
What will the crew be doing during the lunar flyby?
Mission control sent the crew a final list of lunar surface features that they’ve been tasked with observing and photographing as the flyby happens.
Astronauts have 30 “targets,” including the Orientale basin, which is an almost 600-mile-wide crater on the Moon’s near and far sides.
How is the crew doing?
Lori Glaze, the deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, said the Artemis II crew is healthy and that the mission continues to go “incredibly well.”
Besides some toilet issues, the astronauts have had a smooth ride.
They started Sunday with a wake-up song, “Working Class Heroes (Work)” by CeeLo Green — as well as a message from Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke, who went to the moon in 1972, in a module also called Orion.
“I’m glad to see a different kind of Orion helping return humans to the moon as America charts the course to the lunar surface,” Duke told the astronauts. “Below you on the moon is a photo of my family. I pray it reminds you that we in America and all of the world are cheering you on.”
