Artemis II is the first manned mission to the Moon in half a century, and is an introduction to the construction of a permanent base on the Earth's satellite. The crew includes commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen.
In an interview with NBC News, NASA astronaut Christina Koch described the moment she first saw the Moon from the window of the Orion spacecraft. As she pointed out, it looks different than what she was used to on Earth.
— The darker parts of the Moon look like they're not where they should be. Something subconsciously tells you that this is not what you are used to. “It's something we've never seen before,” Koch said.
The Orion spacecraft with the crew of the Artemis II mission flies towards the Moon
Despite minor technical problems on the first day, including a temporary interruption in communication with Earth and a toilet failure, all the ship's systems, including the most important one – life support, work “as they should” and the crew “feels good,” NASA flight director Judd Frieling confirmed on Friday.
On the sixth day of the ten-day mission, the ship will approach the Moon to the smallest distance during this flight – from approx. 6.4 thousand km to approx. 9.6 thousand km. The astronauts will spend most of the day taking photos and videos from the Moon and recording observations, and then return to Earth. As predicted, Orion will move away from Earth to a distance of over 406,771 km.
