EverythingScience

The Artemis II crew are at now the closest point to the Moon in their mission, also called the perilune 🌒

Suit tests from space, support from Houston. Yesterday in the Orion Mission Evaluation Room, Duane Chin supported a demo of the Orion Crew Survival System suit as the crew ran pressurized tests. The CHESS team monitors all the gear the crew relies on aboard Orion.

To commemorate the Artemis II mission, the astronauts announced their suggestion to rename certain features on the Moon to honor the Orion spacecraft, named Integrity, as well as commander Reid Wiseman's late wife, Carroll.

Artemis II crewmember sleeping bags are illuminated inside the Orion spacecraft on Flight Day 5 of the mission and ahead of the crew's lunar flyby on April 6, 2026.

Kelsey on console! Kelsey Young is a Goddard lunar scientist, currently sitting in Mission Control to support the Artemis II astronauts during their flyby of the Moon. She's answering their questions and helping them prep for observations and photographs of the lunar surface.

Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman looks out one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows at the Moon ahead of the crew's lunar flyby on April 6, 2026.

Approaching the near side of the Moon. The Artemis II astronauts have surpassed the record for the distance from Earth at 1:56 ET (1756 UTC). This record was previously set during the Apollo 13 mission when the astronauts traveled 248,655 miles from Earth. The Moon continues to grow larger and larger in the windows of the Orion spacecraft as the Artemis II mission gears up to observe the far side. The astronauts are predicted to make their closest approach of the Moon around 7:02pm ET (2302 UTC). 🌐 Live stream

Clocking in ⏱️ Moon joy is in full swing as the Artemis II crew begins seven hours of lunar observation. Crewmembers will photograph both the near and far sides of the Moon and describe what they see. Watch live:

🌐 Live stream 📝 Live timeline 🗺 Live position ⬅️ Trajectory animation

"Welcome to my old neighborhood." Our NASA Artemis II astronauts woke up on the sixth day of their mission to a special message recorded in 2025 by astronaut Jim Lovell, the pilot of Apollo 8.

Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen conducted a live question and answer session with Canadian youth and the public from across Canada.

The upper stage – or interim cryogenic propulsion stage – of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket separates from the Orion spacecraft after helping to deliver Orion to space on April 1, 2026, for the Artemis II mission. The upper stage was then used as a target for Orion to maneuver around in a demonstration of the spacecraft's ability to perform proximity operations.

HUMANITY RETURNS TO THE LUNAR SPHERE OF INFLUENCE 53 years, 3 months, 19 days, 12 hours, and 26 minutes since Apollo 17 departed, Artemis II has arrived in the SOI of our celestial companion. WE'RE SO BACK! 📷 L: Orion Integrity | R: Apollo CSM

Includes images of the crew, a space to ground video communication event, set-up of a crew selfie taken from outside the Orion spacecraft via an external camera, manual piloting demonstration, crew reaches travel distance of more than two-thirds of the way to the Moon, and verbal lunar observations from the crew.

🌐 Live stream 📝 Live timeline 🗺 Live position ⬅️ Trajectory animation

🚨 Artemis II’s BIGGEST milestones are coming up. Here’s when they’ll happen: 📍1:56 PM ET (1756 UTC) Crew surpasses the Apollo 13 distance record 📍2:45 PM ET (1845 UTC) Lunar observation period begins 📍6:47 PM ET (2247 UTC) Loss of signal expected as Orion heads behind the Moon (~40 min) 📍7:02 PM ET (2302 UTC) Closest approach to the Moon 📍7:05 PM ET (2305 UTC) Orion reaches its furthest point from Earth It is going to be HISTORIC!

Sweet dreams, NASA Artemis II crew. One last look at the Moon before flight day six and your epic lunar flyby, taking you farther into space than humans have EVER traveled.

Successful outbound trajectory burn! This means that the Orion spacecraft fired its thrusters to further fine-tune the astronauts' path to the Moon. Coverage of the lunar flyby tomorrow begins at 1pm ET (1700 UTC). youtube.com/live/m3kR2KK8T…

POV: You're flying by the Moon. This visualization is designed to show you what exactly the Artemis II astronauts will see outside their window during their lunar flyby. Here, the seven-hour visualization is compressed into 28 seconds. The Artemis II crew and lunar science team have been training and preparing for years to make the most of any lunar flyby, under any Moon illumination conditions. Now that the crew is on the way to the Moon, we finally know exactly which parts of the lunar surface will be sunlit during their closest approach, and dozens of scientists are hard at work in the back rooms of Mission Control in Houston. The science team has spent the last few days combining the spacecraft's trajectory with data from our Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, information about the motion of our solar system, and more to create tools that make it easy for humans to see the big picture.

The Moon is special in so many ways. Scientifically, it provides opportunities we simply don't have on Earth. It's near enough to reach with robotic explorers and humans. And for all of us on Earth, it's special because it's ours. 🩶

👀 Behind the scenes tour of European Space Agency's Eagle Artemis II mission control room 🌙