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Livestream above courtesy of NASA
(NEXSTAR) – The world can watch along as the crew of the Artemis II undertakes their history-making lunar flyby on Monday.
NASA is livestreaming its broadcast of the Orion spacecraft’s trip around the far side of the moon, an hours-long journey that will include commentary from Mission Control, NASA researchers and, at times, the astronauts aboard the capsule. The broadcast can be viewed in the video player above, as well as via NASA’s streaming NASA+ service.
Streaming subscribers can also watch on Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Hulu, HBO Max, Netflix, Peacock, Roku and YouTube, the agency says.
NASA’s livestream will last approximately 9 hours, starting with a conversation between NASA’s Mission Control and the four astronauts aboard the Orion: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch of NASA, and Jeremy Hanson of the Canadian Space Agency.
Artemis II toilet was acting up again as astronauts sped toward the moon
Mission Control and the Artemis II crew celebrated one milestone during the early portion of the broadcast: surpassing the distance record of 248,655 miles (400,171 kilometers) set by Apollo 13 in April 1970.
Before the flyby is over, Mission Control expects Artemis II to beat the old record by more than 4,100 miles (6,600 kilometers).
Then begins the actual observation period of the moon’s far side, expected sometime around 2:45 p.m. ET.
“Because room at the spacecraft’s windows is limited, the crew will divide into pairs, with two crew members observing for 55 to 85 minutes” and taking turns, NASA says.
The astronauts will also take pictures and videos of what they see through the capsule’s windows. At its closest, the moon will appear “the size of a basketball at arm’s length,” NASA likes to say.
In this photo provided by NASA, the moon is seen in the window of the Orion spacecraft. (NASA via AP)
At around 6:40 p.m., Mission Control expects to lose communication with the Artemis II crew for about 40 minutes when they’re behind the moon, and at their furthest point from earth.
NASA expects to regain communications shortly after 7:20 p.m. ET, after which the moon will be situated between the sun and the spacecraft — a solar eclipse. The astronauts will be using special eclipse glasses to look for any unusual solar activity during this period, and will use their “unique vantage point” to describe the features of the solar corona, or crown, NASA geologist Kelsey Young said.
The crew is expected to begin transmitting images of their observations far side back to NASA shortly after 9:30 p.m. ET, after the flyby is complete.
“They’ve practiced for many, many, many months on visualizations of the moon,” Young said, “and getting their eyes on the real thing, I’m really, really looking forward to them bringing the moon a little closer to home on Monday.”
PHOTO: Artemis II's moon-bound astronauts capture Earth's blue beauty
Once Artemis II departs the lunar neighborhood, it will take four days to return home. The capsule will aim for a splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego on April 10, nine days after its Florida launch. During the flight back, the astronauts will link up via radio with the crew of the orbiting International Space Station for a conversation, as this is the first time that a moon crew has colleagues in space at the same time.
Perhaps the crews will even discuss the Artemis II mission’s record-breaking feat of sending humans farther into space than ever before. Per NASA’s latest estimates, the crew on the Orion will have traveled 252,757 miles from Earth sometime after 7 p.m. ET.
It’s a milestone of human spaceflight that is far from lost on the Artemis II crew.
“I’ve got to tell you, there is nothing normal about this,” astronaut Reid Wiseman remarked from inside the Orion on the second day of the mission. “Sending four humans 250,000 miles away is a herculean effort, and we are now just realizing the gravity of that.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
