"During the lunar flyby, the closest Orion will come to the surface of the moon is 4,070 miles [6,550 kilometers]. From that distance, the crew will have a unique vantage point of the moon as a full disc — and the ability to take observations never before seen by human eyes."
https://www.npr.org/2026/04/06/nx-s1-5773187/nasa-artemis-ii-moon-lunar-flyby
Follow along! https://artemis.cdnspace.ca
Well, the dashboard has been down for a while now, and it's about 15 minutes until the crew reaches the moon.
Some alternative places to keep an eye on:
The official live stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-j1uxBmis0
Artemis Real-time Orbit Website: https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis-ii/arow/
Artemis II Multimedia: https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-ii-multimedia/
And an alternative tracker: https://artemis-ii-tracker.com/
Current status as per https://artemis.cdnspace.ca:
Lunar flyby — photography & observations
Duration: 6 hours
Progress: 22%
"Orion is carrying 32 cameras and devices [...] Fifteen cameras are mounted directly to the spacecraft, and 17 are handheld cameras operated by the crew."*
Looking forward to browsing https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-ii-multimedia/ when the photos are ready.
* via https://www.nasa.gov/missions/nasa-answers-your-most-pressing-artemis-ii-questions/
I am super glued to the livestream
@clive Honestly, I wasn't thinking too much about the mission in the days/weeks leading up to it, given, well, everything, I guess.
But then I started looking at it from the point of view of people who have been involved, and those around the world still cheering on something that really is a pretty big shared achievement.
Yeah, space travel still kicks ass.
Yeah, I wasn't paying a ton of attention to it, though I ambiently follow the astronaut Christina Koch on instagram so I'd seen the occasional post about the training
then in the last few weeks I got much more interested!
I think it is just hilariously bonkers and great that I live an age where they're *livestreaming* video of their approach to the moon, and I'm sitting here doing my work with the stream in the corner of my screen
Stefan Bohacek
Clive Thompson