Artemis II flies by moon in first, historic look at the lunar dark side

NY Post ^ | 4/06/26 | Alex Oliveira

[Libloather]

Artemis II began its historic flyby of the moon Monday in what is the mission’s showstopper event — giving its crew and Earthlings back home their first glimpses ever of parts of the lunar dark side.

The capsule began the flyby around 2:45 p.m. ET, and will spend just over six hours arcing around the moon with its windows pointed toward the far side of the lunar surface.

All four crew members will become the first people in history to see certain swaths of the far side — since most it remained in shadow when the Apollo missions orbited the moon over 50 years ago.

The Apollo flights were also so close to the surface that their range of sight was limited.

But Artemis II’s flyby is different — the capsule will stay between 4,000 and 6,000 miles from the lunar surface, which will allow the crew to see the entirety of the far side under the full light of the sun.

The moon will appear about the size of a basketball held at arm’s length to the crew looking out the Orion capsule’s windows.

It was also about three to four times larger than Earth as the flyby began, the crew reported.

Artemis II’s astronauts will spend the flyby photographing and making in-person observations of the far side as part of their research.

[GingisK]

Oh yeah. It is best to be pedantic. I agree.

[poinq]

Apollo 1 did not make it to the moon. It did not make it off the launch pad.

[NorthMountain]

All Apollo flight went around the moon. ALL.

That is not correct. All the Apollo flights that went to the moon went around the moon. That much is true.

Apollo 4,5,6 were unmanned, and also remained in Low Earth Orbit.

Apollo 7,9 were manned flight tests that remained in Low Earth Orbit.

[enumerated]

If you are saying the moon should appear small compared to its actual size (2160 miles across), that is entirely subjective, since the apparent size depends on context and expectations.

[GingisK]

Yes, that is true. I was referencing the ones that DID go to the moon. On the other hand, you are well justified to be pedantic. ;-D

I said just that in my post #81.

[Svartalfiar]

No credibility when one says “dark side” of the moon. Lest they be speaking of Pink Floyd. All sides of the moon get sunlight. There is a FAR side of the moon. Not a dark side.

Um, at any given point in time, half the moon is the dark side..