The four astronauts of NASA's Artemis II mission flew deeper into space on Monday (April 6) than any humans before them, as they cruised through a rare flyby of the shadowed far side of the moon that revealed a lunar surface under cosmic bombardment. Artemis II moon crew briefly lose contact, then reconnect with Earth.

According to NASA, the Artemis II mission around the moon is expected to end a lunar flyby observation period on Monday, allowing the crew to send their latest images to Earth.

Artemis II, which launched on Wednesday (April 1), is expected to last about 10 days, sending four astronauts on a high-speed journey around the moon and back in the first crewed lunar mission since the Apollo era.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

IN SPACE (APRIL 6, 2026) (NASA - For editorial use only)

1. VIEW OF MOON (LEFT) AND EARTH (RIGHT) FROM ORION CAPSULE, WITH CAPSULE IN FOREGROUND /

AUDIO OF CAPSULE COMMUNICATOR, JENNI GIBBONS, SAYING (English): "Integrity, Houston. You are six minutes from your 40 minutes lunar flyby LOS. From all of us, it's a privilege to witness you carrying the fire past our furthest reach. Thank you. Godspeed." /

AUDIO OF ASTRONAUT, VICTOR GLOVER, SAYING (English): "Thank you for that, Jenni. And thank you to all of you for allowing us the immense privilege to be on this journey together. It's quite amazing."

HOUSTON, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (APRIL 6, 2026) (NASA - For editorial use only)

2. NASA'S MISSION CONTROL CENTER

IN SPACE (APRIL 6, 2026) (NASA - For editorial use only)

3. VIEW OF MOON (LEFT) AND EARTH (RIGHT) FROM ORION CAPSULE, WITH CAPSULE IN FOREGROUND /

AUDIO OF ASTRONAUT, VICTOR GLOVER, SAYING (English): "As we prepare to go out of radio communication, we're still (able) to feel your (inauble) love from Earth, and to all of you down there on Earth and around Earth, we love you from the moon." /

AUDIO OF GIBBONS, SAYING: "Houston copies. We'll see you on the other side." /

AUDIO OF GLOVER, SAYING: "We will see you on the other side."

HOUSTON, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (APRIL 6, 2026) (NASA - For editorial use only)

4. GRAPHIC OF ORION CAPSULE AND MOON / AUDIO OF NASA COMMUNICATIONS PRESENTER, LEAH CHESHIER MUSTACHIO, SAYING: "And we have confirmation of loss of signal of the Orion spacecraft as it flies behind the moon. We expect to regain communications with them for, in another approximately 40 minutes. This was expected as their spacecraft is now out of direct line of sight with Earth and behind the moon. And this is a poignant moment as it's the first time in over 50 years that we have humans completely unreachable by anyone else on Earth."

5. SCIENCE EVALUATION ROOM AT JOHNSON SPACE CENTER

IN SPACE (APRIL 6, 2026) (NASA - For editorial use only)

6. VIEW OF EARTH FROM ORION CAPSULE, WITH CAPSULE IN FOREGROUND / AUDIO OF NARRATOR, SAYING (English): "We are getting our first views from Orion after the loss of signal. Orion has come back around the other side of the moon, and that little crescent that you see is Earth over 252,000 miles away. With this transit complete lunar flyby continues but Orion has also technically begun its journey home."

7. ASTRONAUTS INSIDE ORION CAPSULE / AUDIO OF ASTRONAUT, CHRISTINA KOCH, SAYING: "Houston, Integrity, comm check."

AUDIO OF GIBBONS, SAYING: "Integrity, we have you loud and clear. Tell me."

AUDIO OF KOCH, SAYING: "Houston, we have you the same and it is so great to hear from Earth again. To Asia, Africa and Oceania we are looking back at you. We hear you can look up and see the moon right now. We see you too. When we burned this burn towards the moon, I said that we do not leave Earth, but we (inaudible). And that is true. We will explore. We will build. We will build ships. We 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. We will always choose each other."

AUDIO OF GIBBONS, SAYING: "Integrity from Earth, our single system, fragile and interconnected, we copy. Those of us that can are looking back." /

AUDIO OF KOCH, SAYING: "We are happy to say we copy." /

LIGHT INSIDE CAPSULE ILLUMINATING