The Artemis II astronauts have surpassed the “two thirds” point of their mission to loop around the moon and fly back to Earth. As of 10:15 A.M. EDT on Sunday, the Orion spacecraft was more than 211,000 miles from Earth and about 68,500 miles from the moon.
Day four of the mission began with the crew waking up to the opening lines from Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club”—sadly, NASA cut the music right before the chorus, prompting commander Reid Wiseman to say what many of us watching were thinking: “We were all eagerly awaiting the chorus.”
Last Saturday the crew—Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen—began preparing in earnest for their lunar flyby, which is set for April 6. Each of the four astronauts has assigned lunar geography targets to observe during that approach, when capsule will swing as close as around 4,000 miles from the moon’s surface. At that time, our natural satellite will be the same apparent size as a basketball held at arm’s length. And already, the crew saw parts of the moon’s far side for the first time, Koch said on the NASA livestream of the mission.
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“It is absolutely phenomenal,” she said. “The moon we are looking at is not the moon you see from Earth whatsoever.”
Glover, Koch said, was “mesmerized” by the sight of the Orientale basin—a massive impact crater that scientists hope the astronauts will be able to examine on their journey.
By observing the moon directly, the astronauts can quickly scan and spot lunar features that are easily missed in images taken by satellites and robots. For example, former NASA astronaut and Apollo 17 crew member Harrison Schmitt spotted orange-colored dust on the lunar surface that turned out to be evidence of volcanic activity. (Schmitt also turned out to be allergic to moon dust.)
At a press conference last Saturday, Kelsey Young, lunar science lead for Artemis II at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said she anticipated having “goosebumps” when she and the other scientists who are following the mission see what the crew observes.
“They are absolutely prepared not just to give really scientifically compelling descriptions but also to bring that experience verbally to us watching here on Earth,” she said.
Also on day four, NASA canceled a planned maneuver of the Orion space capsule that was designed to help it stay on its trajectory—the move wasn’t necessary, and Orion is on track for the far side of the moon.
NASA did change the spacecraft’s attitude, however, so that its wastewater vent lines temporarily pointed more toward the sun to melt some ice that was thought to be preventing wastewater dumps. For context, wastewater essentially means the crew’s (pretreated) pee—solid waste is stored in odor-controlled canisters. There was a lot of potty talk that went along with this effort as the crew and Mission Control repeatedly tried to flush the vent lines and drain the toilet, which is itself a first for a moon mission. For an extended period, the crew were unable to go to the john instead using “collapsible contingency urinals,” which are essentially high-tech bags.
The astronauts also got another turn at steering the spacecraft—these tests help to ensure that Orion can be manually controlled if needed at any time in the mission. Astronauts Hansen and Koch took turns; Wiseman and Glover will get another chance on April 8. These tests are crucial for future Artemis missions that will involve a crew landing on the moon because the Orion capsule will have to dock with another spacecraft to transport astronauts to and from the lunar surface.
And the Artemis II astronauts took a selfie—a family portrait of sorts where they appeared in the Orion capsule window and captured the picture from a camera on the solar array. Mission Control quipped that its team looked forward to the Christmas card.
The midday meal included sweet-and-sour pork, some nuts, berries and a lemon curd cake.
Coming up today for day five of the mission, Orion officially enters the lunar sphere of influence—where the moon’s gravity exerts a stronger pull on the spacecraft than Earth’s gravity does. The day is going to be dedicated to testing, testing, testing and a lot of preparation.
After waking, the astronauts are set to perform a series of tests of their space suits, which are officially called the Orion Crew Survival System. These include making sure they can get the gear on fast, easily strap into their seats, and eat and drink through a port in the helmet. These international-orange-colored spacesuits are designed to protect the astronauts during liftoff and reentry and for use in an emergency. The suits would be able to provide up to six days of breathable air if Orion happened to depressurize.
Following this, the spacecraft may have to perform a maneuver to stay on track for its lunar flyby on April 6—the busiest day of the entire mission, barring launch and the return to Earth.
At a separate press event Saturday, Glover spoke to the enormity of the task. “That we can do this right now means we could do so much more,” he said.
