After launching on April 1, the Artemis II crew are roughly halfway through their mission to the moon, and on Monday, you can see what they see.
Space fans will be able to live stream the lunar fly-by being completed by the astronauts, and quite literally see the dark side of the moon. Three Americans and one Canadian were sent on the 10-day mission, which marks a historic step forward in getting man back on the moon.
Here’s what you need to know.
Where can I watch this happen?
There are actually quite a few places where you can watch the lunar fly-by live, and you won’t have to worry about missing much, as the stream will be quite long, according to NASA.
The livestream will be available on:
NASA’s YouTube page and social media accounts are also providing 24/7 coverage of the mission.
So, they aren’t landing on the moon, right?
Correct. Though this is the second mission in NASA’s moon program, this is a trip around the moon, rather than to the surface like in 1969. The journey will result in the Artemis II crew becoming the first humans to see parts of the far side of the moon with the naked eye.
This is the closest we’ve gotten in decades though, and the hope is that this mission will lay a foundation for a near-future mission to land on the moon.
What will WE be able to see?
You’ll be able to see what the astronauts themselves see, just, you know, not as close. The Artemis II crew will take photos of and notes on the moon’s surface. Once they reach the space rock, they will observe the moon for seven hours. The live stream is broadcasting both the view of the moon, as well as mission control.
Is this mission setting a record?
It is! The Artemis II crew made history on Monday, because they passed the Apollo 13 distance record of 248,655 miles from Earth. The astronauts on this mission are traveling farther from Earth than any humans in history: 252,760 miles.
Why haven’t we been to the moon in so long?
The last time man landed on the moon was in 1972, with the Apollo 17 mission. So, why did they stop?
“The short answer to that question is political will,” Teasel Muir-Harmony, a historian of science and technology and the curator of the Apollo Collection at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC told CNN.
“It takes a whole lot of political will to send humans to the moon. These are extremely complex, really costly, major national investments. It has to be a priority over a sustained period of time.”
The Apollo program ended because of budget cuts.
