The Artemis II crew—comprising NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, alongside Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen—arrived at the far side of the moon today aboard the Orion spacecraft, "Integrity." This marks the first time humans have observed the moon at close range since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
According to The Verge, the spacecraft was expected to reach a distance of 252,757 miles from Earth at 1:56 p.m. ET, officially surpassing the 248,655-mile record set by Apollo 13 in 1970. Later, at 7:02 p.m. ET, the craft will reach its closest point to the lunar surface, passing within 4,070 miles.
Scientific Considerations for Low-Resolution Live Streaming
Despite the public's anticipation for this historic flight, NASA has made it clear that viewers will not be seeing 4K high-definition video. As reported by Ars Technica, Kelsey Young, NASA’s lead for Artemis science flight operations, stated: "Except for the period when we are behind the moon and experience signal loss, we will have a video stream from the solar array wing (SAW) cameras."
These SAW cameras are modified GoPro units mounted on the four solar array wings of the Orion service module. Judd Frieling, the Artemis II ascent flight director, added: "Don't expect high-resolution video, but you will get the footage from the SAW cameras, as Kelsey mentioned, transmitted via our nominal low-rate video link."
The primary scientific objective of the mission is to deepen our understanding of lunar geology and identify potential landing sites for future missions. NASA expects a communication blackout of approximately 40 minutes between 6:44 p.m. and 7:25 p.m. ET as the spacecraft passes behind the moon. Following this, the crew will attempt to recreate the iconic "Earthrise" photograph captured during the Apollo 8 mission.
To maintain connectivity, the Orion spacecraft integrates several technologies. In addition to the laser-based Orion Artemis II Optical Communications system, the mission relies on the Near Space Network and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s (JPL) Deep Space Network.
