As the Orion Spacecraft approached the moon, the Capsule further entered the “Zone of Silence”, where, as Orion continued its trajectory, the mission entered it’s most solitary phase. The crew moved behind the Moon, which resulted in approximately 40 minutes of total radio silence as the lunar mass blocked all communication with Earth.
The Artemis 2 crew emerged from behind the Moon on schedule and broke their radio silence.
A 40-minute blackout had left Mission Control waiting in silence with mission specialist Christina Koch was first to speak.
“Houston, Integrity, comm check,” she said.
“It is so great to hear from Earth again.”
The communication loss occurred as the spacecraft soared beyond the moon’s far side, blocking radio and laser signals, cutting off channels with NASA Mission Control.
Prior to the loss of communications, NASA astronaut Victor Glover shared a message: “And so as we prepare to go out of radio communication, we’re still open to feel your love from Earth and to all of you down there on Earth and around Earth, we love you. We’ll see you on the other side.”
In 1970, the Apollo 13 crew travelled 248,655 miles from Earth, but the Artemis 2 moon mission from NASA beat this record by about 4,102 miles, reaching a maximum distance of 252,757 miles.
The four Artemis 2 astronauts would also see the Apollo 12 and 14 landing sites from 1969 and 1971. Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn would also be visible.
As the module passes some 4,000 miles beyond the far side of the Moon, the crew would lose communication with Earth for around 40 minutes, NASA had warned.
