{"id":26902,"date":"2026-04-07T03:31:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T07:31:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stingfm.com\/news\/artemis-ii-performs-closest-moon-flyby-amid-communication-loss\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T03:31:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T07:31:59","slug":"artemis-ii-performs-closest-moon-flyby-amid-communication-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stingfm.com\/news\/artemis-ii-performs-closest-moon-flyby-amid-communication-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"Artemis II performs closest Moon flyby amid communication loss"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><strong>The four astronauts of the NASA mission have ventured farther from Earth than any humans before them<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong>NASA\u2019s Orion spacecraft, carrying\u00a0four astronauts, performed its long-awaited lunar flyby, coming within roughly 4,070 miles (6,550 km) of the lunar surface and entering the Moon\u2019s gravitational sphere of influence.<\/p>\n<p>In a planned and highly anticipated phase of the journey, Mission Control in Houston lost contact with the crew at around 6:43 PM EST for approximately 40 minutes. The communication blackout occurred when the Moon blocked radio and laser signals between the Earth-based Deep Space Network and the Orion spacecraft.<\/p>\n<p>While out of contact, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, focused on their scientific objectives, photographing and observing the lunar far side \u2013 including the 600-mile-wide Orientale basin.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">While the Artemis II crew are experiencing their own personal solar eclipse, Mission Control will temporarily lose communications with the capsule. This is planned and expected. We anticipate regaining communications in about 30 minutes. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QjeORjlfZB\">pic.twitter.com\/QjeORjlfZB<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NASA (@NASA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NASA\/status\/2041289280107000000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 6, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The mission\u2019s defining moment also saw the crew break a 56-year-old record, surpassing the 248,655-mile mark set by the Apollo 13 mission in 1970.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;We will always choose each other.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mission control has reacquired signal with the Artemis II crew after the mission\u2019s planned loss of signal. Our astronauts are once again using the Deep Space Network to keep conversation and science data flowing between space and Earth. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/aagRApba1z\">pic.twitter.com\/aagRApba1z<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NASA Artemis (@NASAArtemis) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NASAArtemis\/status\/2041299800163750066?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 6, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cOn the far side of the Moon, 252,756 miles away, Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy have now traveled farther from Earth than any humans in history and now begin their journey home,\u201d<\/em> NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement on X.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cIt is so great to hear from Earth again,\u201d<\/em> Koch said upon re-establishing communication with mission controllers. <em>\u201cWe will visit again. We will construct science outposts. We will drive rovers. We will do radio astronomy. We will found companies. We will bolster industry. We will inspire. But ultimately, we will always choose Earth.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n        <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rt.com\/news\/637497-artemis-ii-breaks-record-for\/\"><br \/>\n            <span>READ MORE: <\/span>Artemis II breaks record for farthest human travel from Earth<br \/>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/p>\n<p>The flyby marks a crucial test for NASA as the agency prepares for future lunar landings, with the capsule now on a four-day return trajectory.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The four astronauts of the NASA mission have ventured farther from Earth than any humans before them NASA\u2019s Orion spacecraft, carrying\u00a0four astronauts, performed its long-awaited lunar flyby, coming within roughly 4,070 miles (6,550 km) of the lunar surface and entering the Moon\u2019s gravitational sphere of influence. In a planned and highly anticipated phase of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[483],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rt-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Artemis II performs closest Moon flyby amid communication loss - Sting FM<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Artemis II performs closest Moon flyby amid communication loss - Sting FM\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The four astronauts of the NASA mission have ventured farther from Earth than any humans before them NASA\u2019s Orion spacecraft, carrying\u00a0four astronauts, performed its long-awaited lunar flyby, coming within roughly 4,070 miles (6,550 km) of the lunar surface and entering the Moon\u2019s gravitational sphere of influence. In a planned and highly anticipated phase of the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.stingfm.com\/news\/artemis-ii-performs-closest-moon-flyby-amid-communication-loss\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sting FM\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-07T07:31:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stingfm.com\/news\/artemis-ii-performs-closest-moon-flyby-amid-communication-loss\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.stingfm.com\/news\/artemis-ii-performs-closest-moon-flyby-amid-communication-loss\/\",\"name\":\"Artemis II performs closest Moon flyby amid communication loss - Sting FM\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stingfm.com\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-07T07:31:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stingfm.com\/news\/artemis-ii-performs-closest-moon-flyby-amid-communication-loss\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.stingfm.com\/news\/artemis-ii-performs-closest-moon-flyby-amid-communication-loss\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stingfm.com\/news\/artemis-ii-performs-closest-moon-flyby-amid-communication-loss\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.stingfm.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Artemis II performs closest Moon flyby amid communication loss\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stingfm.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.stingfm.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Sting FM\",\"description\":\"Just another WordPress site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.stingfm.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.stingfm.com\/news\/author\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Artemis II performs closest Moon flyby amid communication loss - Sting FM","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Artemis II performs closest Moon flyby amid communication loss - Sting FM","og_description":"The four astronauts of the NASA mission have ventured farther from Earth than any humans before them NASA\u2019s Orion spacecraft, carrying\u00a0four astronauts, performed its long-awaited lunar flyby, coming within roughly 4,070 miles (6,550 km) of the lunar surface and entering the Moon\u2019s gravitational sphere of influence. 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