Updated on: April 3, 2026 / 8:33 PM EDT / CBS News
The moon-bound Artemis II astronauts, enjoying spectacular views of Earth as it receded, spent Friday chatting with family and rehearsing plans to closely observe the lunar far side Monday. Their flight plan also included drills of basic medical procedures — chest compressions and clearing airway obstructions — to prepare Orion crews for possible emergencies in deep space.
An outbound trajectory correction maneuver was called off after Orion proved nearly perfectly on course. The day’s highlights for viewers on Earth were jaw-dropping photos taken by commander Reid Wiseman shortly after a rocket firing that boosted the crew toward the moon. One time-exposure showed a full Earth suspended in space, revealing northern Africa, the Strait of Gibraltar, the green coast of Brazil and auroral displays over the poles. Another image framed the blue-and-white planet through an Orion cockpit window.
A live feed from a camera on one of Orion’s solar wings later showed the moon dead ahead — a small gray marble in blackness. Wiseman radioed mission control: “It was really great to wake up this morning and look out the window and see the full moon off the front of the vehicle. There was no doubt where we are heading right now, and we really appreciate all the work down there.”
NASA video showed the crew sharing a midday meal and astronaut Victor Glover doing a post-workout wipe down. After video of Glover’s workout was streamed, mission control noted it had stopped that footage on the public affairs stream. Wiseman said the crew was fine with it either way; mission control replied it would update the crew preferences sheet.
Wiseman and his crewmates — Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen — are the first people to travel to the moon since Apollo’s final mission in December 1972. They will set a new distance record Monday when they pass the 248,655-mile mark set by Apollo 13. The far side flyover begins at 6:47 p.m. EDT Monday, when Orion disappears behind the moon and contact with Earth is cut off. For about 40 minutes, the astronauts will be alone with their observation checklists, passing within roughly 4,000 miles of the lunar surface at about 7:05 p.m.; to them, the moon will look about the size of a basketball at arm’s length.
Researchers say the crew’s human observations add value to scientific data. “We are going to maximize every minute of looking at that far side,” Koch said before launch. The trajectory will allow people to see things firsthand “for the first time ever with human eyes,” which can matter for scientific analysis.
About 40 minutes after flying behind the moon, Orion will regain line-of-sight contact with Earth and then head home, splashing down in the Pacific near San Diego on April 10.
