NASA’s Artemis 2 crew have seen the far side of the Moon for the first time, with astronaut Christina Koch describing the view as ‘absolutely spectacular’ as the mission nears a historic record
The Artemis 2 crew have finally set eyes on the far side of the Moon as the NASA astronaut Christina Koch has called the sight as “absolutely spectacular.”
She said: “One of the interesting things that happens when you look at a Moon that inherently just looks different is the darker parts aren’t quite in the right place. She added: “And sure enough, we got our lunar targeting information and we matched up, and we’re like, ‘Yep, that is the dark side.'”
The four astronauts are on track to be the furthest humans from the Earth in history as the epic space mission passes the halfway mark to the Moon. The three Americans and one Canadian will arrive at their destination on Monday, though there have been some technical hiccups during their voyage, with reports the toilet in the cramped space capsule was producing strange odours.
The Artemis 2 crew had previously flagged a burning smell emanating from the Orion spacecraft’s loo. Koch radioed to Mission Control and said: “Regarding the smell, I just wanted to make sure you all were tracking the EGS notes of the kind of burning heater smell that was coming from toilet several times,” reports the Mirror.
A problem with the toilet was potentially triggered by the “freezing of the vent lines,” NASA confirmed. This isn’t the first occasion the toilet has created issues during this mission.
The spacecraft will now shift to a position where sunlight can reach the wastewater vent line, hopefully defrosting it and enabling the astronauts to use the toilet once more. The crew received instructions to utilise backup collection equipment if required.
The Orion 2 spacecraft has now crossed the midway point to the Moon and remains firmly on track to make the four astronauts aboard the most distant humans from Earth in the coming days.
At their most remote point during the lunar flyby, the Artemis 2 crew will be 252,757 miles (406,773km) from Earth. That’s further than the 248,655 miles (400,171km) from Earth achieved by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970.
Should everything proceed according to plan, the spacecraft will reach its most distant point on day six from launch, as it sweeps around the Moon’s far side before returning towards Earth. At that moment the astronauts will be roughly 4,600 miles beyond the Moon’s far side – marking it the most distant spaceflight from Earth ever attempted.
NASA astronauts Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, alongside Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen will loop around the Moon in their Orion capsule, perform a U-turn and then return directly home without landing.
Artemis 2 represents the first crewed mission to visit the Moon since Apollo 17, which touched down on the lunar surface in December 1972.
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