Artemis 2 Moon Flypast: NASA Prepares For Historic Crewed Lunar Loop To Break Apollo 13 Records

The Artemis 2 lunar mission reaches a crucial stage on Monday, when four astronauts swing around the Moon in a multi‑hour flypast. The event marks the first crewed journey around the Moon in more than 50 years and will be broadcast live on Nasa’s website, YouTube, Amazon and Netflix.

This test flight will push human travel farther from Earth than ever before, as the Orion spacecraft is expected to reach a maximum distance of about 252,757 miles, or 406,772 kilometres. Nasa expects Artemis 2 to beat Apollo 13’s distance record by 4,102 miles, or 6,600 kilometres.

Timings and viewing details for Artemis 2 Moon flypast

The near seven‑hour Artemis 2 Moon flypast is scheduled to begin at about 6:45 pm GMT. That corresponds to 12:15 am Indian Standard Time and 2:45 pm Eastern US Time. The pass is expected to end around 1:20 am GMT, according to Nasa’s schedule.

Nasa will live‑stream the Artemis 2 Moon flypast on its website and official YouTube channel, along with coverage on Amazon and Netflix. Viewers will hear commentary from the astronauts onboard Orion and from specialists at Mission Control in Houston, Texas, although Nasa has warned that extreme distance could affect video quality.

What astronauts will see during Artemis 2 Moon flypast

As Orion heads into the lunar loop, the Artemis 2 crew will pass behind the Moon’s far side, which is never visible from Earth. During this phase, Moon gravity will pull more strongly on the spacecraft than Earth’s gravity, helping Orion whip around into its record‑setting path.

Nasa says the astronauts will take photographs and record observations throughout the multi‑hour Artemis 2 Moon flypast, becoming the first humans to view some regions of the far side. Nasa explains: “Although the lunar far side will only be partially illuminated during the flyby, the conditions should create shadows that stretch across the surface, enhancing relief and revealing depth, ridges, slopes and crater rims that are often difficult to detect under full illumination,” it said.

The Moon will appear strikingly large to the Artemis 2 crew during the closest approach. AFP quoted Noah Petro, who leads Nasa’s planetary geology laboratory, saying the Moon will seem “about the size of a basketball held at arm's length,” to the astronauts. Toward the end of the flypast, the crew will also see a solar eclipse lasting about 53 minutes, when the spacecraft lines up precisely with the Moon and the Sun, blocking the star from view.

Mission background and records for Artemis 2 Moon flypast

Nasa’s Artemis II mission lifted off on 1 April from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:35 pm EDT. The Orion spacecraft is carrying four astronauts on a planned loop around the Moon and back to Earth as part of a broader return to crewed lunar exploration.

Only Apollo‑era astronauts had flown to the Moon before Artemis 2, all of them white American men who travelled between 1968 and 1972. The Apollo programme also landed the first humans on the lunar surface in 1969, while Artemis 2 is designed as a flyby to test systems before future landings.

According to an AFP report, communication with Artemis 2 will be cut for around 40 minutes as Orion disappears behind the Moon during the flypast. The spacecraft is expected to reach the furthest point from Earth shortly before this phase, and the blackout will end once the capsule emerges from the far side and contact with Mission Control resumes.

Event	Detail
Launch date and time	1 April, 6:35 pm EDT, from Launch Pad 39B, Kennedy Space Center
Flypast start time	6:45 pm GMT / 12:15 am IST / 2:45 pm Eastern US Time
Flypast end time	Around 1:20 am GMT
Maximum distance from Earth	About 252,757 miles / 406,772 kilometres
Record beyond Apollo 13	Approximately 4,102 miles / 6,600 kilometres farther
Communication blackout	Roughly 40 minutes behind the Moon’s far side
Solar eclipse duration	About 53 minutes during alignment with Moon and Sun

On Monday, Artemis astronauts entered the final approach to the lunar loop, with Orion preparing to swing around the Moon and then head deeper into space. This manoeuvre will position the crew to travel further from Earth than any previous human mission while Nasa monitors every stage of the long‑planned test flight.