'We will always choose Earth': Mission Control reconnects with Artemis II after 40-minute blackout as Orion heads back toward Earth
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'We will always choose Earth': Mission Control reconnects with Artemis II after 40-minute blackout as Orion heads back toward Earth")
'We'll see you on the other side': NASA loses communication with Artemis II crew Photograph: (AFP)
Artemis II astronauts reestablish contact after a 40-minute lunar blackout, with Christina Koch reflecting, “We will always choose Earth. We will always choose each other.”
Astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft have resumed communications with NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston after emerging from behind the Moon. The anticipated communications blackout lasted approximately 40 minutes. With Orion now having completed its journey around the Moon, the spacecraft has officially begun its return trip to Earth. NASA astronaut Christina Koch shared her reflections following the blackout, commemorating the moment.
She said, "It is so great to hear from Earth again,” Koch said. “To Asia, Africa, and Oceania, we are looking back at you. We hear you. 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. That is true. We will explore. 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.”
The crew witnessed Earthrise, the breathtaking view of Earth appearing over the Moon, echoing what Apollo astronauts saw in 1968. They also observed fleeting flashes from meteor impacts on the lunar surface and, during Earthrise, noticed dust hovering above the Moon’s edge, a mysterious phenomenon that scientists have yet to fully explain.
Also Read: Artemis II 40-minute silence: When astronauts will be left floating in space with no contact
Artemis astronauts break space distance record
The four astronauts on NASA's lunar flyby became the humans to travel the farthest from Earth on Monday, as they commenced the lunar observations central to their mission. The Artemis II crew has now broken the distance record set by the 1970 Apollo 13 mission and is expected to extend it by 4,105 miles (6,606 kilometers) when they reach the mission’s projected maximum distance of 252,760 miles (406,778 kilometers) from Earth later on Monday. "For all humanity, you're pushing beyond that frontier," said Jenni Gibbons at Houston's mission control.
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