Humanity’s Farthest Journey: Artemis II Flies the Moon

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Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your daily


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guide to what's happening beyond our


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world. I'm Anna.


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>> And I'm Avery. And today, today's


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Today's genuinely one of those days we


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will remember for the rest of our lives.


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>> 54 years. That's how long it's been


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since any human being flew around the


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far side of the moon. And yesterday,


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that streak ended. The Artemis 2 crew,


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Reed Wisman, Victor Glover, Christina


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Ko, and Jeremy Hansen, completed a


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7-hour lunar flyby that has rewritten


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the history books. We've got the full


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story, plus a wild NASA budget battle, a


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European Chinese collaboration, a Blue


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Origin update, and a spacecraft headed


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to the space station.


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>> Strap in. This is Astronomy Daily,


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season 5, episode 83. Let's kick things


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off with the big one of the day.


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>> Okay, let's start where the entire


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planet's attention has been focused.


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252,760


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mi from Earth.


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>> That's how far the Aremis 2 Orion


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spacecraft reached that its maximum


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distance from Earth, officially breaking


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the record set by the Apollo 13 crew


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back in April 1970. Apollo 13 got to


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248,655


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mi. Artemis 2 just beat that by more


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than 4,000 miles.


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>> And they didn't just nudge the record.


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They went farther than any human beings


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in the history of our species. Let that


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sink in.


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>> The lunar flyby itself kicked off on


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flight day 6. That's Monday, April 6th.


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NASA scientists had prepared a packed


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science plan. 35 specific geological


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targets on the lunar surface. 10 science


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objectives and the crew working in


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twoperson ships to photograph and


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document as much as possible.


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>> Closest approach came at just 4,67


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mi above the surface. That's close


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enough to see individual craters in


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extraordinary detail. From there, the


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spacecraft swung around the far side of


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the moon and the crew went silent for


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about 45 minutes as the moon blocked all


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communication with Earth. And when they


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came back, the crew described witnessing


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an Earth set and then an Earth rise as


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the Earth dropped below and then


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reemerged from the lunar horizon.


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Commander Reed Wisman said, and I'm


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paraphrasing here, that these numbers,


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250,000


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m, are simply impossible for the human


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brain to process when you're actually


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living them.


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>> Mission specialist Christina had an


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emotional moment, too. She became the


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first woman in history to complete a


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lunar flyby. And when she spoke to NASA


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administrator Jared Isaacman, she said


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she wasn't ready to go home.


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>> Victor Glover described the moon out the


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window as one of the darkest things they


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could see with deep space behind it


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appearing like a deep surreal blue.


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Stars visible even through that


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darkness. His words, "It's a quite a


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wicked view."


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And another astronaut, we believe it was


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Jeremy Hansen, said there are simply no


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adjectives, that they'd need to invent


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new ones, just phenomenal.


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>> But it didn't stop there. As Orion swung


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back around, the crew witnessed


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something extraordinarily rare. A total


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solar eclipse as seen from beyond the


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moon's far side. The sun disappeared


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behind the lunar disc for nearly an


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hour. And they used every second of it


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scientifically, studying the solar


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corona glowing around the edge of the


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moon, watching for meteoroid impacts on


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the lunar surface, and observing


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illuminated lunar dust. It was a science


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feast in the middle of a history-making


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adventure. President Trump called in


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afterward to congratulate the crew,


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calling it one of the proudest moments


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for America. Commander Wisman said his


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favorite site was watching Mars align


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with the other planets during the


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eclipse and musing about humanity


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becoming a two planet species.


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>> So, where is the crew now? Day seven is


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a rest day. Well-earned, I'd say. Day 8


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brings a radiation shelter construction


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demonstration and manual piloting tests.


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Day 10, April 10th, is splashdown day.


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The Pacific Ocean off San Diego. Between


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now and then, the spacecraft will


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perform three trajectory correction


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burns to fine-tune its return path. And


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Orion's toilet, which has had a few


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headline worthy hiccups, appears to be


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operating normally now after a frozen


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wasteline was resolved.


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>> The space toilet, always a


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crowd-pleaser, but genuinely, the


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universal waste management system is


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being tested as the first deep space


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bathroom. critical technology for future


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long duration missions.


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>> Fun fact time. The Artemis 2 crews wake


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up songs are curated by mission control


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and beamed up to start each day. The


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playlist is on Spotify. Look for it.


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It's a genuine artifact of this mission.


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>> Also, the crew's zero gravity indicator,


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the small toy or object that floats


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freely in the cabin showing when you've


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reached weightlessness, is an adorable


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stuffed animal they called rise. So far,


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it's living up to the name.


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>> And in a lovely Easter weekend moment


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before the flyby, pilot Victor Glover


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shared a message about how the mission


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reminds us of our shared humanity. As he


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said, "We are the same thing and we've


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got to get through this together."


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Beautiful sentiment. 250,000 m from


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home. The crew also attempted to


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recreate the famous Apollo 8 Earthrise


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photograph from 1968, one of the most


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important images in human history. We'll


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be watching for those photos as they're


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down.


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>> Now, even as the world celebrates


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Artemis 2, there's a storm brewing back


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on Earth over NASA's finances. The White


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House Office of Management and Budget


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released its FY2027 budget for NASA, and


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it's a repeat of last year's deeply


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controversial cuts. The headline number,


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$18.8 billion. That's a 23% reduction


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from NASA's current 24.4 billion budget.


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And the hardest hit, the science mission


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directorate, slashed by 47%


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from 7.25 billion down to 3.9 billion.


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>> Casey Dreer of the Planetary Society


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called it bluntly an extinction level


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event for science. More than 40 missions


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would be terminated, although the


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document only names two specifically,


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the Mars sample return mission and the


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severe global climate data program.


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>> Notably, exploration funding, meaning


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Artemis, would actually increase by


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nearly 10% to $8.5 billion. So, the


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administration's message is clear.


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Humans to the moon, but science takes


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the hit.


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>> Here's the important context, though.


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Congress rejected almost identical cuts


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last year. The same $18.8 billion


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request was made for FY2026,


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and lawmakers chose to restore science


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funding across the board. Advocates say


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there's every reason to believe Congress


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will push back again.


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>> But the uncertainty is damaging


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regardless. Missions like the Nancy


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Grace Roman Space Telescope, expected to


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launch later this year, and the


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Dragonfly Titan rotorcraft are among


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those potentially in the crosshairs.


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While all eyes are on the moon, the


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International Space Station isn't going


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hungry. Tomorrow, Wednesday, April 8th,


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a SpaceX Falcon 9 is set to launch from


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Cape Canaveral carrying Northrop Grumman


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Signis spacecraft on the NG24 mission.


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>> This Signis has been named the SS Steven


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R. Nagel in honor of the former NASA


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astronaut who flew four space shuttle


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missions and logged 723


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hours in space. The XL configuration is


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carrying more than 11,000 lbs of


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supplies and science hardware for the


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Expedition 73 crew. Highlights include


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an upgrade to NASA's cold atom lab,


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which uses ultra cold atoms to study


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quantum behavior and equipment to help


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produce therapeutic stem cells for blood


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and cancer treatment research.


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>> There's also an AI powered climate


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camera built through a partnership


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between the Egyptian, Kenyan, and


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Ugandan space agencies. The climb cam


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payload designed to provide near


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realtime weather data for disaster


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management in East Africa.


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>> Unlike SpaceX's Dragon, Signis doesn't


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dock autonomously. Astronauts aboard the


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station used the Canade Arm 2 robotic


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arm to capture it. Then ground


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controllers dock it to the Unity module.


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A real team effort between humans and


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ground control. Now, while Artemis 2 is


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grabbing most of the headlines, there's


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another remarkable mission launching in


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less than 48 hours. And this one is a


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genuine first in the history of space


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science.


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>> On Thursday, April 9th, the Smile


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mission lips off from Europe's spaceport


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in French Gana on a Vega C rocket. Smile


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stands for the Solar Wind Magnetosphere


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ionosphere link explorer. What it


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promises to deliver is humanity's very


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first complete simultaneous view of how


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Earth's magnetic shield responds to the


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sun. Think of it this way. Earth is


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constantly bombarded by charged


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particles streaming from the sun, the


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solar wind. Our planet is protected by a


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massive invisible magnetic bubble called


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the magnetosphere. Without it, life on


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Earth simply could not exist. We've been


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studying pieces of this interaction for


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decades, but we've never been able to


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image the whole system at once. Smile


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will change that. It carries four


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instruments, a soft X-ray imager, an


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ultraviolet aurora camera, a light ion


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analyzer, and a magnetometer. All


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working together in real time to capture


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the magnetosphere as a complete dynamic


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system for the first time ever. The


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orbit is extraordinary. After launch,


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Smile fires its engines 11 times over 25


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days to stretch its path into a highly


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elongated loop, reaching 121,000 km


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above the North Pole, then sweeping back


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down to just 5,000 km above the South


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Pole to beam its data home. Each orbit


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takes roughly two days. At its high


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point over the North Pole, Smile will


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continuously image the entire dayside


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magnetosphere for up to 40 hours per


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orbit. That's the longest uninterrupted


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auroral observation ever planned from


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space. A capability that's been missing


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since 2008.


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>> There's also a remarkable geopolitical


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dimension here. Smile is a joint mission


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between ESA and the Chinese Academy of


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Sciences. the first mission ever jointly


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designed, built, launched, and operated


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by both agencies. That partnership has


00:11:16.720 --> 00:11:19.030
survived a decade of development,


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technical setbacks, COVID delays, and


00:11:21.839 --> 00:11:24.470
considerable political headwinds. The


00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:26.550
fact that it's launching at all is


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itself a statement


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>> and the practical stakes are high.


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Better understanding of space weather


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and earlier prediction of solar storms


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protects satellites, power grids,


00:11:37.839 --> 00:11:40.150
financial systems, and communications


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networks worldwide. Liftoff is set for


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0729


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BST on April 9th with live coverage on


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ESA web TV. The name smile comes from


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the mission acronym, but there's a


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literal smile involved, too. ESA's


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simulations of what the X-ray camera


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will see show a smileyfaced shaped


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pattern of X-ray emission from Earth's


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magnetosphere, which may be the most


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delightful coincidence in all of space


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science.


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>> The spacecraft weighs 2300 kg, but 1,580


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of those kg are fuel. It burns through


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90% of its propellant in the first month


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alone just to reach its science orbit.


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It's essentially a fuel tank attached to


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instruments.


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>> Here's a story that connects directly to


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Aremis 2 and the dream of long-term


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human presence on the moon. We know


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there's water ice locked in the


00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:40.790
permanently shadowed craters near the


00:12:40.800 --> 00:12:43.269
lunar south pole, but we don't really


00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:46.790
know how much or exactly where. Blue


00:12:46.800 --> 00:12:49.910
Origin wants to fix that. Earlier this


00:12:49.920 --> 00:12:52.310
year at the Lunar and Planetary Science


00:12:52.320 --> 00:12:54.550
Conference, Blue Origin formally


00:12:54.560 --> 00:12:57.910
introduced Oasis 1, the first mission in


00:12:57.920 --> 00:13:00.550
what it's calling Project Oasis, a


00:13:00.560 --> 00:13:03.269
multi-phase initiative to identify,


00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:05.990
assess, and ultimately use the moon's


00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:09.590
resources in C2. Oasis 1 is a two


00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:12.310
spacecraft mission, a pair of small sats


00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:14.310
to be deployed from Blue Origin's


00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:18.230
uncrrewed MK1 lander. The two spacecraft


00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:21.190
will enter a highly elliptical low polar


00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:23.829
orbit with their lowest point skimming


00:13:23.839 --> 00:13:26.629
just 10 kilometers above the lunar south


00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:28.710
pole. Close enough to collect


00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:31.509
extraordinarily detailed data about


00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:33.910
what's actually in those permanently


00:13:33.920 --> 00:13:35.430
shadowed regions.


00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:38.069
>> The instrument suite is purposebuilt for


00:13:38.079 --> 00:13:41.190
prospecting neutron spectroscopy to


00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:43.190
measure subsurface water ice


00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:46.710
concentrations down to 1 meter depth.


00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:49.670
magnetometers for metal detection, a


00:13:49.680 --> 00:13:52.230
multisspectral push broom spectrometer


00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:55.430
for helium 3 and geological mapping.


00:13:55.440 --> 00:13:57.590
It's essentially a mining survey from


00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:00.470
orbit with resolution in some modes down


00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:04.069
to less than 5 m per pixel. And then


00:14:04.079 --> 00:14:06.870
comes the finale. After 90 days of


00:14:06.880 --> 00:14:09.509
global mapping, Oasis 1 conducts a


00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:12.710
controlled slow motion descent, a 10-day


00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:14.870
deorbit phase where the instruments keep


00:14:14.880 --> 00:14:17.670
working at ultra low altitudes right up


00:14:17.680 --> 00:14:19.910
until impact. They'll be mapping water


00:14:19.920 --> 00:14:22.389
deposits at hundreds of meters per pixel


00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:25.189
in those final hours. Science right to


00:14:25.199 --> 00:14:26.069
the end.


00:14:26.079 --> 00:14:27.990
>> The commercial model is fascinating,


00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:30.710
too. Blue Origin plans to license the


00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:32.710
resulting resource maps to other


00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:35.030
companies who need that data to design


00:14:35.040 --> 00:14:37.269
lunar mining hardware and attract


00:14:37.279 --> 00:14:39.990
investors. Any data without direct


00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:42.310
commercial use goes public via the


00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:44.629
European Space Resources Innovation


00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:47.189
Center. It's open science built on a


00:14:47.199 --> 00:14:49.670
commercial backbone. The project is a


00:14:49.680 --> 00:14:51.430
partnership with Luxembourg and its


00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:53.910
small space agency, continuing that


00:14:53.920 --> 00:14:56.150
small nation's long tradition of being


00:14:56.160 --> 00:14:57.990
surprisingly central to the space


00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:01.030
resources industry. And it ties directly


00:15:01.040 --> 00:15:03.269
into Blue Origin's Blue Alchemist


00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:05.509
program, which aims to process lunar


00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:08.150
regalith into oxygen, solar cells, and


00:15:08.160 --> 00:15:10.389
power cables. The moon as a


00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:12.949
self-sustaining infrastructure hub. As


00:15:12.959 --> 00:15:15.750
Blue Origins VP of advanced concepts Pat


00:15:15.760 --> 00:15:18.310
Ramy has put it, once we know what's


00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:20.790
really there and how to access it,


00:15:20.800 --> 00:15:23.430
everything changes. With Artemis 2


00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:25.829
heading home right now, that future is


00:15:25.839 --> 00:15:27.829
feeling closer than ever.


00:15:27.839 --> 00:15:29.990
>> Before we go, let's look ahead at what's


00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:31.910
happening in the night sky this month


00:15:31.920 --> 00:15:33.829
because April is actually a great time


00:15:33.839 --> 00:15:35.750
to be outside looking up.


00:15:35.760 --> 00:15:38.629
>> Comet C/2025R3


00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:41.269
is your prime target. It's expected to


00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:43.829
peak around April 17th and make its


00:15:43.839 --> 00:15:46.790
closest approach to Earth on April 27th,


00:15:46.800 --> 00:15:49.590
coming within 44 million miles.


00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:52.230
Magnitude estimates put it around 8. So,


00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:53.990
you'll need binoculars or a small


00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:55.990
telescope, but it should be a very


00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:58.310
rewarding site in the eastern pre-dawn


00:15:58.320 --> 00:16:01.110
sky. Then, there's the Lid meteor


00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:02.710
shower, which peaks on the night of


00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:06.150
April 21st into the 22nd. The Lids are


00:16:06.160 --> 00:16:07.910
one of the oldest recorded meteor


00:16:07.920 --> 00:16:09.829
showers. There are observations going


00:16:09.839 --> 00:16:13.910
back to 687 BC. They come from debris


00:16:13.920 --> 00:16:16.150
shed by comet Thatcher, and you'll want


00:16:16.160 --> 00:16:18.150
to look toward the constellation LRA


00:16:18.160 --> 00:16:21.110
from around 10 p.m. local time. The moon


00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:22.949
should be relatively cooperative for the


00:16:22.959 --> 00:16:25.189
larids this year, meaning darker skies


00:16:25.199 --> 00:16:27.269
for the peak. And if you have a clear


00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:30.230
horizon just before sunrise, Mercury is


00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:32.069
putting on its best showing of the year


00:16:32.079 --> 00:16:35.910
as well. Look east just above Mars. And


00:16:35.920 --> 00:16:38.069
that is your Astronomy Daily for


00:16:38.079 --> 00:16:42.069
Tuesday, April 7th, 2026. What a day to


00:16:42.079 --> 00:16:44.949
be alive and curious about the universe.


00:16:44.959 --> 00:16:47.829
The Aremis 2 crew are heading home.


00:16:47.839 --> 00:16:50.069
They've seen what no human has since


00:16:50.079 --> 00:16:51.749
1972.


00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:54.550
And the science, the photos, the data,


00:16:54.560 --> 00:16:56.629
all of that is just beginning to come


00:16:56.639 --> 00:16:57.910
back to Earth.


00:16:57.920 --> 00:17:00.230
>> If this episode has inspired you, share


00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:01.990
it with someone who needs a little


00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:04.150
cosmic wonder in their day. You'll find


00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:06.789
us wherever great podcasts are heard and


00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:08.870
all the links are in the show notes.


00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:11.669
>> Find us on X, Instagram, Tik Tok, and


00:17:11.679 --> 00:17:14.549
YouTube at astroaily pod and visit


00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:16.390
astronomyaily.io


00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:19.029
for extended show notes and resources.


00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:21.110
>> Until tomorrow, keep looking up.


00:17:21.120 --> 00:17:24.230
Astronomy day.


00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:32.230
Stories be told.


00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:35.960
Stories told.