Artemis astronauts glimpse moon's 'Grand Canyon' ahead of historic lunar flyby
Why it matters: The Artemis mission will set a new record for human deep-space travel, surpassing previous Apollo missions.
- Artemis astronauts have become the first humans to see the moon's Orientale basin, a massive crater previously only photographed by orbiting cameras, marking a significant visual discovery.
- Astronaut Christina Koch expressed the crew's excitement about seeing the distinctive Orientale basin, emphasizing its unique appearance and the privilege of being the first humans to witness it.
- NASA confirmed the crew's progress, noting they are nearly 200,000 miles from Earth and 82,000 miles from the moon, and published an image taken by the crew showing the distant moon with the Orientale basin visible.
- Commander Reid Wiseman reported high morale, sharing a personal highlight of speaking with his daughters from space, calling it the "greatest moment of my entire life."
- The Artemis crew has completed a manual piloting demonstration and reviewed their lunar flyby plan, which includes analyzing and photographing surface features like ancient lava flows and impact craters, setting them up to potentially break the record for farthest human travel from Earth.
The Artemis astronauts have achieved a historic milestone, becoming the first humans to visually observe the moon's Orientale basin, often called the moon's "Grand Canyon," as they near a record-setting lunar flyby. Morale is high among the crew, who have completed manual piloting demonstrations and reviewed their flyby plans, preparing to venture farther from Earth than any human before.
