219,666...219,669 - When Artemis II astronauts feared getting LOST IN SPACE

Artemis II astronauts made history earlier this year after becoming the first four humans to travel to the farthest point in space. While the feat is unparalleled, there was one point in the journey when the crew feared it could get lost in space. Commander Reid Wiseman recently shared that this moment came when they flew over the dark side of the moon.

Speaking at the Starmus Festival in Tenerife on Saturday, Wiseman shared that after they reached the dark side of the moon, they watched the odometer reading, which was supposed to reach only a particular figure as given by NASA. That showed how far they were in space from Earth. However, even after this reading, the number of nautical miles on the odometer kept going higher. This left them worried that they might get lost in space.

Artemis II - Distance from Earth to Moon

The Artemis II crew travelled 219,669 nautical miles, or 406771.352 kilometres, from Earth. However, Wiseman said, "Mission control in Houston had told us our maximum distance", which was 219,667 nautical miles. "I was watching this number, and I saw it hit 219,667, and I thought, 'Great, this is the farthest we will be from Earth, and the next number I will see will be 219,666, we'll be going home'. But about three minutes later, I saw 219,668. It went up," he told the crowd.

Wiseman shared that then it went up to 219,669, and "that was the moment that I felt real fear because I thought we had just gone too far." He felt, "We're never going to come home, and so I was very scared." The crew waited three whole minutes before the number started dropping, a sign that they were on their way back home.

Artemis II astronauts were “at peace” with the risk of the mission

However, the mission specialist Jeremy Hansen admitted that they all were aware of the risk that came with the trip to the moon. He said that two days before the launch, they talked about what they would do if something went terribly wrong. "Like, if Reid's number had just kept growing and we knew we weren't coming home, but we were going to be alive for a while, how do you sit comfortably, not knowing what the future is going to be?" he said.

He said they were "at peace" with this possibility, "not because we're brave; it's not bravado; it's because we had an acceptance of whatever came; we would do the best, or our time would end."