Artemis II surpasses Apollo 13’s record

The mission crewArtemis 2he beat therecord of the greatest distance from Earthso far held by the mission crewApollo 13in 1970. The previous record belonged to Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swiggert. On the shuttleOrionastronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen achieved the distance of400,171 kilometerstouched by the 1970s mission during its emergency return to Earth.

The flight schedule predicts that at 1.02 am ItalianOrionmove further away, until you reach406,777 kilometers from Earthla greatest distance from Earth everfrom a space mission with astronauts. The Orion capsule is orbiting theLunabefore reversing course and returning to Earth following a so-called “free return trajectory“, a return journey that will last about four days.

A historic message and new records

Gli astronautsthey began their historic day with a message from the lateJim Lovellwho participated in the Apollo 8 and 13 missions. “It’s a historic day and I know how busy you will be, but don’t forget to enjoy the view,” the Artemis astronauts heard from Lovell’s recorded words. “Welcome to my old neighborhood,” he said. “I am proud to pass the baton to you as you orbit the Moon.” Whizzing around thefar side of the Moonthe crew can admire previously unexplored lunar territories: the globe will stand out imposingly through the windows of the capsule. The Moon will appear to astronauts “as big as a basketball held at arm’s length,” Noah Petro, head of the US space agency’s planetary geology laboratory, told AFP. To enhance the historical character ofmission led by Reid Wisemanthe crew ofArtemis IIboasts severalreceive. Victor Gloverhe is the first black person to fly around the Moon,Christina Kochthe first lady and the CanadianJeremy Hansenthe first non-American. During the flyby, there will be a period of approximately 40 minutes where all communications with Artemis II will be interrupted, as the astronauts will pass behind the Moon. “It will be exciting, you know, in a slightly scary way, when they pass behind the Moon,” Derek Buzasi, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Chicago, told AFP.

Unpublished observations and the role of the human eye

Gli astronautsthey have already started observingdetails never seen beforedirectly. An image sent by the crew showed theEastern basin of the Moona huge crater that had previously only been observed by unmanned orbiting cameras. Toward the end of the flyby, the astronauts will witness asolar eclipsewhen the Sun will be behind the Moon. Despite the technological advances made since the eraApollola NASAit still relies on the sight of its astronauts to learn more about the Moon. “THE’human eyeit’s basically the best camera that has ever existed or will ever exist,” Kelsey Young, science manager of the Artemis II mission, told AFP. “The number of receptors in the human eye far exceeds that of a camera.” And although the crew ofOrionwill still be at a considerable distance from the Moon, theiroverflight is essentialto prepare for a subsequent manned mission to the planet’s surface. “We will learn a lot aboutspaceship“Nasa Administrator Jared Isaacman told CNN. The information will be “of primary importance to the preparation ofsubsequent missions such as Artemis III in 2027 and of course the moon landing of Artemis IV in 2028“he added.

Names for new lunar craters

Gli astronauts of Artemis IIthey proposed to baptize and give a name totwo new cratersdiscovered onlunar surfaceduring the satellite flyby. For the first, they propose “Integrity“, the name of their capsule. For the second, located in a border area between thevisible and hidden sides of the Moonpropose the name “Carroll“, the given name of Commander Reid Wiseman’s wife, who passed away in 2020.

A new image of the Moon and the East Sea

Meanwhile theNASAhe released onenew image of the Moon. Il visible side(the hemisphere we observe from Earth) is visible on the right. It is recognizable bydark spotsthat cover its surface. These are ancientlava flowsdating back to an early period in lunar history, when the Moon was still volcanically active. The large crater located west of the lava flows is theEastern Seaa crater almost 965 km in diameter that extends between the visible and hidden sides of the Moon. “The left half of the East Sea is not visible from Earth, but this image gives us a complete view of the crater,” NASA explains. Everything to the left of the crater is thehidden sidethe hemisphere that we cannot see from Earth because the Moon rotates on its axis at the same speed as it orbits around us.