The historic Artemis II mission to the Moon by four astronauts of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which started on April 7, 2026, enters Day 7 on Tuesday, April 7, 2026.
A video of NASA’s Artemis circumventing the Moon has been shared by American billionaire Elon Musk.
It showed Artemis flying very close to the Moon, captured by the exterior cameras mounted on the Orion spacecraft.
In the video clip, the Moon fills much of the frame, showing its surface as the spacecraft passes by.
It showed the craters, ridges and surface detail of the Moon clearly, which is rare because it has been decades since humans have had this view near the Moon.
About the historic Artemis II mission:
The Artemis II is a ten-day US spaceflight to send four astronauts on a flyby around the Moon and back to Earth.
The mission was launched from Kennedy Space Centre on April 1, 2026, with a crew of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
It is the second flight of the Space Launch System (SLS), the first crewed mission of the Orion spacecraft, and the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in December 1972.
According to reports by CNN, the Artemis II mission marks a historic milestone in humanity’s return to deep space exploration, more than five decades (50 years) after the Apollo 17 mission.
This mission represents a critical step in the broader Artemis Programme led by NASA, aimed at returning astronauts to the Moon and eventually sending humans to Mars.
The significance of Artemis II lies in it being the first crewed mission in the programme, designed to test systems and ensure the safety of future lunar landings.
The reports also emphasise the symbolic importance of the mission, noting renewed global interest in space exploration and the diversity of the crew, which reflects a more inclusive era of human spaceflight.
Watch the video below:
Source: Ghanaweb