#FridayFunFact – 10th April 2026

On the 6th April, 2026, the Artemis II craft, Integrity, and the 4 astronauts, Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy, completed their flyby around the Moon. The contact, as expected, was lost between 22:46 UTC, and 23:24 UTC, during their 40 minute stint around the far side of the moon, where the Deep Space Network has no direct connection with the vessel.

During this time, they were able to view the far-side of the moon in unprecedented detail, including a solar eclipse after the blackout had finished, and where also able to see Impact Flashes from meteoroids impacting the dark portion of the moon.

This has been the first return to the moon for 50 years, last done by Apollo 17, and the first Lunar Flyby in the same amount of time, as performed by Apollo 13, during their fateful mission. At an altitude of as little as 4,067 miles above the lunar surface, Artemis II created a new distance record, previously set by Apollo 13, which flew-by at just 158 miles above the surface. The new distance record stands at 252,755.8 miles, or 406,771 km.

As part of the wake-up call on Day 6 before the historic flyby, a message recorded by Apollo 13 astronaut, the late Jim Lovell, was played as part of their wake-up call on the day, leading to emotional reactions. A recording can be found here.

The Artemis II crew also proposed a rename of two unnamed crates spotted during the fly-by, one to be named Integrity, after the spacecraft, and one named Carroll, after Reid Wiseman‘s late wife.