07 | Artemis Explained: Moon flyby success

April 7, 2026·17 min·1 clip

Artemis II astronauts have looped around the moon, breaking the human distance record from Earth.

Belinda Smith and Jacinta Bowler present Artemis Explained for Science Fiction on ABC Radio National. Jacinta attempts a sub-60-second recap of the Artemis II flyby. The crew reached 406,771 kilometres from Earth, beating Apollo by about 6,000 kilometres, and passed 6,545 kilometres above the lunar surface with the Moon appearing roughly basketball-sized at arm's length. The flyby took around seven hours with astronauts using long-lens cameras and taking visual notes, swapping roles halfway, and reporting eye strain from the brightness. Jeremy Hansen announced over the air that the crew had suggested names for two newly discovered craters - Integrity after the capsule, and one for Commander Reid Wiseman's late wife - producing a group hug on-camera. Astronauts described the far side as surprisingly green and brown; Victor Glover compared bright crater peaks to snow and likened the overall view to the Las Vegas Luxor spotlight. The crew went behind the Moon for a 40-minute planned signal blackout. On re-acquisition they experienced a lunar solar eclipse, seeing a pinpoint Earth behind an eclipsed Sun and reporting visible micrometeorite strikes on the Moon's backlit surface. They wore eclipse glasses. NASA moon expert Dr Kelsey Young is quoted on the serendipity of getting an eclipse due to launch timing. Operationally, Earth's brightness forced the crew to drape a shirt (called the shroud) over a window; it overheated, leading to airflow and repositioning adjustments. The toilet briefly received a no-go from Mission Control, possibly related to icing after inadequate sun-pointing of pipes. As the capsule re-acquired signal, Mission Control flipped their Artemis II mission patches to reveal a reverse side showing Earth in the foreground and Moon in background, signalling the return trip. The hosts answer listener questions from Robin (eight), Miles (six) and his mother Georgia, and Annabel from Canberra: why use two observers rather than just cameras, how Orion uses gravity rather than steering, what manual-control tests involve (actually done by Christina and Jeremy, not Victor as previously said), and that astronauts use coordinated universal time. The capsule leaves the lunar sphere of influence around 3:30 am Australian Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday, with splashdown scheduled for Saturday Australia time.

As heard by us

A compact, human update on Artemis II's moon loop, far-side silence, and eclipse-like view.

Artemis Explained treats the Artemis II flyby as a clear, grounded mission update. The crew loops around the moon, travels farther from Earth than any humans ever have before, drops out of contact for about 40 minutes on the far side, and gets an eclipse-like view as the moon…

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Why you'd press play

For a quick Artemis II flyby update with a solar eclipse and planned comms blackout.

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