In the late hours of Sunday evening, the moon’s gravity will begin to pull in four humans for the first time in more than half a century. The Artemis II mission will enter the lunar sphere of influence, where the moon’s gravitational pull on the spacecraft is stronger than that of the Earth.
By Monday, the astronauts are expected to be in their lunar flyby, coming within 4,000 and 6,000 miles of the lunar surface. That includes swinging past the far side of the moon and laying eyes on certain parts of the moon that have never been seen with human eyes before.
From the astronauts’ perspectives, NASA says the moon will appear roughly the size of a basketball held at arm’s length.
NASA will begin its coverage of the lunar flyby around noon CT Monday. The crew’s official lunar observation will last from 1:45 p.m. through 8:20 p.m. CT, during which the crew will be mainly focused on taking pictures and videos of the moon.
The four astronauts plan to speak from the Orion spacecraft around 9:30 p.m. Monday. That will be livestreamed on NASA’s official feed.
During the flyby, NASA anticipates there will be a period of about 40 minutes, beginning at about 5:47 p.m. CT, where the crew will lose communication with Mission Control at Houston’s Johnson Space Center while flying by the far side of the moon. During that time, around 6:02, the Orion spacecraft will reach its closest approach to the moon, and shortly thereafter it will be at its furthest point away from the Earth.
At around 7:35 p.m. CT, the crew will witness their own personal solar eclipse as the moon blocks out the sun.
At about 12:56 p.m. CT Monday, Artemis II is expected to break the record for the farthest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth, according to NASA. Apollo 13 set the record in 1970 at 248,655 miles; it’s possible Artemis II could go a few thousand miles farther.
The lunar flyby is something of the climax of the mission. It will be the closest humans have been to the moon since the Apollo program ended in 1972. After spending much of the day by the moon on Monday, the crew will continue to fly around it before leaving the lunar sphere of influence several hours later.
