Welcome home, #ArtemisII crew! A successful and historic lunar flyby! Canadian CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen returns to Earth alongside NASA Reid Wiseman, NASA Christina Koch and NASA Victor Glover. Send your welcome‑back messages below! 🚀⬇️

After a journey of more than 690,000 miles, the crew is nearly home.

The #Artemis II crew will splash down off the coast of San Diego later today and, though it won’t be visible from land, you can still wave in their general direction to welcome them back to Earth! 👋

Everything you need to know about #Artemis II re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. It may only be roughly a 16-minute journey from when the Artemis II crew begin their re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere to hitting the Pacific Ocean, but there are a lot of moving parts to what is widely considered the riskiest phase of the mission.
Separating from the service module

Before entering the Earth’s atmosphere, the capsule holding the crew has to separate from the European service module, which means all of the solar panels, engines, radiators and even the oxygen and water tanks will be removed.

That’s because the module doesn’t have a heat shield. Only the crew capsule has enough protection to withstand the intense heat when blasting through the Earth’s atmosphere.

There are 12 thrusters that help orient Orion to make sure it is roughly 120 kilometers above the Earth’s surface.

Entering Earth’s atmosphere

With the service module left behind, the crew capsule then begins entering the Earth’s atmosphere at approximately 40,000 km/h.

As air compresses in front of the capsule, it creates a plasma fireball where temperatures can reach 2,700 C , roughly half the temperature on the surface of the sun.

Orion uses an ablative heat shield which works by absorbing the impact of the condensed air collecting in front of it. As it burns, chars and flakes, it carries heat away with the material itself.

As the Orion capsule hurtles towards Earth, the plasma also blocks all communications with the crew.

Then begins the most dangerous phase.

“In terms of what keeps me up at night, my blood pressure will be elevated until they’re under parachutes in the water off the West Coast. There’s no plan B there. That is the thermal protection system. The heat shield has to work,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman in a press conference on Tuesday.

As the crew capsule is plummeting through the atmosphere, air continues to pile up in front of it, creating drag and decelerating the spacecraft at four times the force of gravity -- that is why crew members will also feel four times heavier than they do on Earth.
Parachute Deployment

While Orion is still moving at hundreds of kilometers per hour, it will then begin a precise deployment sequence of 11 parachutes.

Three are initially released to remove the cover bay that sits over the main parachutes.

Then, at roughly 7,600 meters above the Earth’s surface, two drogue shoots are released to slow and stabilize the crew module, before they’re cut free.

Lastly, at nearly 3,000 meters before splashdown, three pilot chutes are released, pulling out the three main parachutes, which then slow the spacecraft down to roughly 30 km/h and allow it to become stable and upright for landing.

Splashdown in the Pacific

Orion is expected to hit the Pacific Ocean nearly 30 kilometers off the coast of California roughly 16 minutes after it entered Earth’s atmosphere.

After it hits the water, flotation devices systems will be deployed to keep the capsule upright while recovery teams, consisting of the U.S. Navy, Airforce and NASA, will move in.

Divers will help the astronauts from an inflatable front porch and onto helicopters that will then take them to a recovery ship. Orion is then towed into the recovery ship to be taken to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Splashdown location is weather dependent

Weather conditions are being closely monitored, since NASA says it requires no heavy rain or thunderstorms within several kilometers of the landing site.

Paul Delaney, a university professor emeritus of physics and astronomy at York University, said there has to be relatively calm seas, calm winds, and no major rain showers or lightning.

“It’s more likely they’ll adjust the landing zone,” said Delaney in a Thursday interview with CTV Your Morning on what would happen if those conditions are not met.

“At the moment, the conditions look pretty good, but there is a system relatively close that they’re keeping an eye on,” added Delaney. “They can adjust their entry point to either be a little short of the primary zone or a little further.”

“It would really have to be a terrible situation on the ground to even consider putting them into orbit.”

New perspectives of our home planet.

As #Artemis II flew around the Moon on April 6, the crew captured these images of a crescent Earth from hundreds of thousands of miles away. See the latest photos and videos: https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-ii-multimedia/

August 1, 1971 – Second Apollo 15 Moonwalk

#Earth observation operators push to deliver satellite images within minutes .

Vantor employees were gathered for a sales kickoff in January, when an executive announced that a WorldView Legion satellite passing overhead would snap a photo of the California venue. Later, a buzzer sounded to alert the audience that the 30-centimeter-resolution image was available on the Vantor Hub portal. It had been 13 minutes.

#WASHINGTON — Hungary is moving to build its first national communications satellite and broaden defense ties with U.S. industry under several partnerships announced by the Hungarian defense and space firm 4iG during Vice President J.D. Vance’s visit to Budapest April 7.

The centerpiece is an agreement with Northrop Grumman to build a geostationary communications satellite under a program known as HUSAT. The spacecraft, a Ka-band system based on Northrop’s GEOStar-3 platform, is scheduled for delivery in 2030 and would provide Hungary with its first domestically controlled satellite communications capability.

4iG, which has close ties to the Hungarian government, has been expanding from its roots in telecommunications into space and defense through its subsidiary, 4iG Space and Defense Technologies. The HUSAT program combines the geostationary satellite with a planned constellation of eight Earth observation spacecraft.

Northrop will build the communications satellite, while 4iG is responsible for producing the imaging satellites. Other international suppliers are also involved: Germany-based Vertex will provide ground antenna systems, South Korea’s TelePIX will supply imaging payloads, and Italy’s MetaSensing will contribute synthetic aperture radar technology.

The effort reflects a broader shift among European governments toward securing sovereign space capabilities — systems that allow countries to control satellite tasking, data and operations. As military and economic dependence on space-based services grows and geopolitical tensions raise questions about access to those systems, governments are placing greater emphasis on owning critical infrastructure. Lower costs for satellite manufacturing and launch have made such programs more accessible, including for mid-sized nations.

Alongside the Northrop agreement, 4iG announced partnerships with L3Harris Technologies and with satellite manufacturer Apex.

The deal with L3Harris is focused on integrating local production and support for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS. The truck-mounted precision strike system, produced by Lockheed Martin and used by Ukrainian forces, has a range of more than 40 miles and is designed to hit targets behind front lines.

Separately, 4iG signed an agreement with Apex to explore establishing a joint venture aimed at building small satellites in Europe and targeting demand for large constellations.

The announcements build on 4iG’s earlier efforts to align with U.S. space companies, including a plan announced last year to invest in Axiom Space.

“We believe transatlantic cooperation will be a key driver of space and defense innovation in the coming decade,” said István Sárhegyi, chairman and chief executive of 4iG Space and Defense Technologies.

#Lunar crater named after Artemis commander’s deceased wife, Artemis astronauts at the outer edge of human space travel had an emotional moment Monday as they named a crater in honor of the deceased wife of mission commander Reid Wiseman.

“It’s a bright spot on the moon. And we would like to call it Carroll,” Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen told a live broadcast.

The crater can be seen “at certain times of the moon’s transit around Earth,” he said. As Wiseman and others wiped away tears, the four astronauts pulled together in a silent, floating embrace.

The #Artemis II crew baptized another crater “Integrity,” the name they have given their spacecraft.

The four astronauts became on Monday the humans to travel furthest from Earth, as they prepared to view areas of the moon never before seen by the naked eye as part of NASA’s historic lunar flyby.

“We most importantly choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next, to make sure this record is not long-lived,” Hansen said.

Carroll Taylor Wiseman died of cancer in 2020, and Reid Wiseman, a former fighter pilot, has been raising their two daughters on his own since then.

#NASA’s next Artemis missions being planned with help of N.Y. professor. Stony Brook University professor Timothy Glotch is one of just 10 scientists from across the country selected to shape research plans for the next Artemis moon missions.

Glotch got the call of his life Wednesday, when NASA exploration leaders told the Long Island planetary geologist that he and nine others would be bringing their wealth of experience to the Artemis program.

“I was over the moon,” he said. “My heart was racing, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face for the entire day.”

Glotch will help astronauts on the 2028 Artemis mission locate minerals and water ice near the moon’s south pole, and start to build a base on the moon in the coming years.

“Artemis is being built from the ground up to be sustainable,” he said. “I’m excited to bring Artemis to Stony Brook and teach classes.”

Glotch will be front and centre for the 2028 launch to the moon from either Cape Canaveral, Florida, or the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

While discussing his elation, Glotch donned gloves - a strict protocol - and showed lunar dust experiments from rock samples collected on the surface of the 4.5 billion-year-old moon by Apollo astronauts more than 50 years ago.

“We can take this tiny little amount of sample and use it to inform our global perspective,” he said. “By studying the moon, we learn more about the Earth.”

All of his research is being done on Earth, but would Glotch ever want to take a rocket on a trip to the moon?

“I don’t even like tall roller coasters,” he said. “I’m happy to do my science here on Earth.”

It's time for #Artemis II to break #Apollo 13's distance record. What to know about the moon flyby

Launched last week on humanity’s first trip to the moon since 1972, the three Americans and one Canadian are chasing after Apollo 13’s maximum range from Earth. That will make them our planet’s farthest emissaries as they swing around the moon without stopping on Monday and then hightail it back home.

Their roughly six-hour lunar flyby promises views of the moon’s far side that were too dark or too difficult to see by the 24 Apollo astronauts who preceded them. A total solar eclipse also awaits them as the moon blocks the sun, exposing snippets of shimmering corona.

“We’ll get eyes on the moon, kind of map it out and then continue to go back in force,” said flight director Judd Frieling. The goal is a moon base replete with landers, rovers, drones and habitats.

A look at Artemis II’s up-close and personal brush with another world — our constant companion, the moon.
Apollo 13 holds the distance record from Earth

Apollo 13’s astronauts missed out on a moon landing when one of their oxygen tanks ruptured on the way there in 1970.

With the three lives in jeopardy, Mission Control pivoted to a free-return lunar trajectory to get them home as fast and efficiently as possible. This routing relies on the gravity of Earth and the moon, and minimal fuel.

It worked for Apollo 13, turning it into NASA’s greatest “successful failure.” (For the record, flight director Gene Kranz never uttered “Failure is not an option.” The line is pure Hollywood, originating with the 1995 biopic starring Tom Hanks.)
How Artemis II will surpass Apollo 13

Commander Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert reached a maximum 248,655 miles (400,171 kilometres) from Earth before making their life-saving U-turn on Apollo 13.

Artemis II’s astronauts are following the same figure-eight path since they are neither orbiting the moon nor landing on it. But their distance from Earth should exceed Apollo 13’s by about 4,000 miles (, 6400 kilometres).

Artemis II’s Christina Koch said late last week that she and her crewmates don’t live on superlatives, but it’s an important milestone “that people can understand and wrap their heads around,” merging the past with the present and even the future when new records are set.
Artemis II astronauts take shifts for prime lunar views

During the flyby, the astronauts will split into pairs and take turns capturing the lunar views out their windows with cameras.

Because they launched on April 1, the rendezvous won’t have as much of the far lunar side illuminated as other dates would have. But the crew still will be able make out “definite chunks of the far side that have never been seen” by humans, said NASA geologist Kelsey Young, including a good portion of Orientale Basin.

They’ll call down their observations as they photograph the gray, pockmarked scenes. There’s a suite of professional-quality cameras on board, and each astronaut also has an iPhone for more informal, spur-of-the-minute picture-taking.

Young’s team made lunar geography flashcards for the astronauts to study before the flight. “They’ve practiced for many, many, many months on visualizations of the moon,” she said over the weekend, “and getting their eyes on the real thing, I’m really, really looking forward to them bringing the moon a little closer to home on Monday.”
A total solar eclipse is in store during the moon flyby

The upside of the April 1 launch is a total solar eclipse. The eclipse won’t be visible from Earth — only from the Orion capsule — treating the astronauts to several minutes’ worth of views of the sun’s outermost, radiating atmosphere, the corona.

The astronauts will be on the lookout for any unusual solar activity during the eclipse, Young said, and will use their “unique vantage point” to describe the features of the solar corona, or crown.

All four astronauts packed eclipse glasses to protect their eyes.
How long the brief blackout behind the moon lasts

Orion will be out of contact with Mission Control for nearly an hour when it’s behind the moon. The same thing happened during the Apollo moonshots.

NASA is relying on its Deep Space Network to communicate with the crew, but the giant antennas in California, Spain and Australia won’t have a direct line of sight when Orion disappears behind the moon for approximately 40 minutes.

These communication blackouts were always a tense time during Apollo although, as Frieling points out, “physics takes over and physics will absolutely get us back to the front side of the moon.”
It’s homeward bound for Artemis II after the moon flyby

Once Artemis II departs the lunar neighborhood, it will take four days to return home. The capsule will aim for a splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego on April 10, nine days after its Florida launch.

During the flight back, the astronauts will link up via radio with the crew of the orbiting International Space Station. This is the first time that a moon crew has colleagues in space at the same time and NASA can’t pass up the opportunity for a cosmic chitchat. The conversation will include both members of the first all-female spacewalk in 2019: Koch aboard Orion and Jessica Meir, on the station.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Marcia Dunn, The Associated Press