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Artemis II - It is time go

One week ago today the Crew of NASA Artemis II departed Earth on their 10 day journey around our Moon…

🎵 - Project Hail Mary

Did you send your name aboard Artemis II???

If you did, then your name is literally in my pocket!! And every time you see me floating around the Orion spacecraft — that’s where your name is! With ME!

Don’t worry — I’ve kept your names safe as I’ve flown around the Moon 🫡 -Rise

Artemis II is just a couple of days away from splashdown—and as Earth grows larger in the mission's sights, the crew woke up this morning to "Under Pressure," by Queen and David Bowie, and greetings from our colleagues at Canadian Space Agency.

It's not just a phase 🌕

Artemis II astronauts captured these views of the Moon as the Orion spacecraft flew around the far side of the Moon on April 6, 2026.

NASA’s Orion spacecraft is pictured here from one of the cameras mounted on its solar array wings. At the time this photo was taken at 8:33 a.m. ET, the Artemis II crew was in a sleep period ahead of beginning their seventh day into the mission.

Pictured from left to right, Angela Garcia, Dr. Kelsey Young, and Dr. Trevor Graff, the first science officers of the Artemis program in the White Flight Control Room in the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Seen here about ten minutes before Earthset during Artemis II, these science officers are seen monitoring mission data in real-time from the Science console. They support flight controllers by analyzing scientific measurements and system performance. Their work helps ensure mission objectives are achieved safely and efficiently.
Source: NASA

NASA Flight Directors Diane Dailey, Pooja Jesrani, and Paul Konyha pictured in the White Flight Control Room during the Artemis II crew’s lunar flyby. 
Source: NASA

NASA’s Orion spacecraft is pictured here from one of the cameras mounted on its solar array wings. At the time this photo was taken at 8:33 a.m. ET, the Artemis II crew was in a sleep period ahead of beginning their seventh day into the mission.

Only ~2% of lunar craters are named after women.
As we return to the Moon, that’s starting to change. 🌕

A new perspective on space, history, and who gets remembered:
🔗 seti.org/news/women-wit…

Sky full of stars.

Following a successful lunar flyby, the Artemis II astronauts captured this breathtaking photo of our galaxy, the Milky Way, on April 7, 2026.

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen spoke with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman to discuss their mission so far. The conversations took place on Monday, April 6, with the Artemis II crew aboard NASA's Orion spacecraft. NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:35p.m. EDT on April 1, sending the four astronauts on a planned 10-day test flight around the Moon and back.

Here is a labelled image so you can see the craters more clearly!

The Artemis II mission has recently completed a return trajectory correction burn. This is when the Orion spacecraft fires its thrusters to change the spacecraft’s velocity and fine-tune the path back home to Earth.

The astronauts aboard the Space Station and the astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft shared a ship-to-ship call today. In this clip, astronaut Christina Koch reflects on the "specialness and preciousness" of Earth.

Orion is almost 400 000 km away, whereas the International Space Station orbits about 400 km above Earth 🌍
As the two crews speak, there is almost an 8 second delay in their conversation ⏱️.