Humanity's Farthest Journey: Artemis II Flies the Moon

Humanity's Farthest Journey: Artemis II Flies the Moon

From Astronomy Daily: Space News Updates by bitesz.com

April 7, 2026 · 18 min · Season 5 · Episode 83

About this episode

The episode covers the historic Artemis II lunar flyby and discusses NASA's budget challenges and upcoming missions.

The Artemis II crew has completed the most significant human spaceflight milestone since 1972 — a historic lunar flyby that took four astronauts further from Earth than any humans in history. In today's episode, Anna and Avery cover every moment of Flight Days 6 and 7, including the far-side blackout, a solar eclipse observed from beyond the Moon, and what comes next on the journey home. Plus: NASA faces another proposed 47% science budget cut, a cargo ship heads to the space station, Europe and China are about to launch a groundbreaking solar shield explorer called SMILE, and Blue Origin reveals its ambitious plan to map the Moon's hidden water ice. Today's Stories 1. Artemis II Days 6 & 7: The Lunar Flyby • The crew of Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen completed a 7-hour lunar flyby on April 6 • Orion reached a maximum distance of 252,760 miles from Earth, surpassing the Apollo 13 record of 248,655 miles • Closest lunar approach: 4,067 miles above the surface at approximately 7 p.m. EDT • Christina Koch became the first woman to complete a lunar flyby • The crew witnessed an Earthset, Earthrise, and a solar eclipse from behind the far side of…

People in this episode

Hosts: Anna, Avery

Topics covered

  • Artemis II
  • lunar flyby
  • NASA budget
  • space exploration
  • solar eclipse
  • human spaceflight

Keywords

  • Artemis II
  • lunar flyby
  • NASA budget cut
  • solar eclipse
  • human spaceflight
  • space exploration
  • Blue Origin
  • SMILE

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NASA, Blue Origin, Europe, China

Places: Moon, Pacific

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