The Artemis 2 astronauts: the first humans to approach the moon in half a century
The four astronauts on the Artemis 2 mission will reach the farthest point humans have ever reached from Earth on Monday, surpassing any spacecraft that came before them, during the first flyby of the moon since 1972, which will take them to areas that humans have never seen directly before. More than four days after launching from Florida, NASA's three astronauts, Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman, and their Canadian colleague Jeremy Hansen, entered the Moon's "gravitational field" at 04:42 GMT, where the Moon's gravity exceeds Earth's.
farthest space journey
Around 18:00 GMT, they will break the record for the farthest spaceflight, which was set by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970. They will travel a distance of up to 406,000 kilometers from Earth during the day. Although the four astronauts will not land on the moon, it will be a historic event, as none of the Apollo missions (1968-1972) ever included women, black astronauts, or non-American astronauts in their crews. In the history of space exploration, no Russian or Chinese cosmonaut has ever ventured beyond 400 kilometers from Earth, the distance to orbiting stations. Only spacecraft that returned to observe the Moon have done so. For seven hours, starting at 18:45 GMT, the moon will fill the window of the Orion spacecraft, and will appear to them the size of a "basketball in the palm of the hand," Noah Petro, head of NASA's Planetary Geology Laboratory, told AFP. Another notable fact, as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pointed out, is that Jeremy Hansen became the first French-speaking astronaut on a lunar mission on Sunday, during a live interview in which he encouraged everyone to "discover and share their passion."
"goosebumps"
The four crew members trained for more than two years to identify and accurately describe geological formations to scientists on the ground, particularly the brown and beige tones of soil. Their oral descriptions, along with their observations and the images they capture with the three cameras on board the spacecraft, will allow us to learn more about the Earth's natural moon geology and history. But NASA also hopes that this will ignite the enthusiasm of followers around the world, as it will broadcast the event live on multiple platforms such as Netflix and YouTube, except for 40 minutes during which communications will be cut off due to the moon's obscuration. Kelsey Young, the mission's chief scientist, promised at a press conference last weekend that "hearing this crew describe the lunar surface will give you goosebumps." While the Apollo astronauts preceded them in this achievement, more than 50 years ago, most of us "had not yet been born, so this will be a unique experience for us," Derek Pozzacci, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Chicago, told AFP.
Sunrise and sunset
Astronauts will fly beyond the moon to discover its far side, which is never seen from Earth, and are likely to see "areas of this far side that none of the Apollo astronauts were able to spot," Jacob Bleacher, head of NASA's Science Exploration Division, told AFP, expressing his great enthusiasm for this possibility. The crew spotted a glimpse of the Oriental Basin, a giant volcanic crater nicknamed the "Great Canyon of the Moon," which has only been seen in its entirety so far via spacecraft. Jeremy Hansen said, "It's exactly like training, but in three dimensions, and that's truly amazing!" Their lunar mission will also allow them to witness a solar eclipse—when the sun disappears behind the moon—and Earthrise and Earthset behind the moon. This is reminiscent of the famous "Earthrise" photograph that revolutionized our view of the world in 1968 during the Apollo 8 mission. If this mission and the one that follows it next year go well, NASA plans to land astronauts on the moon in 2028.
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