分类： science

NASA’s Artemis II lunar mission faced an unexpected disruption on Tuesday when all communications between the spacecraft and ground control on Earth were cut off for nearly 40 minutes, triggering temporary concern among mission teams monitoring the test flight. The 40-minute blackout, which unfolded as the crew conducted routine system checks ahead of their planned lunar flyby, marked one of the first major unplanned technical hurdles for the Artemis program’s first crewed mission.

Once ground controllers reestablished stable communication links with the spacecraft, astronaut Christina Koch, one of the four members of the Artemis II crew, shared her first reaction to reconnecting with mission control. “It is so great to hear from Earth again,” Koch said in remarks that were broadcast publicly shortly after contact was restored.

Mission officials have not yet released a full public explanation of what caused the communications outage, but initial preliminary assessments indicate the issue was linked to a planned testing procedure that temporarily switched off the spacecraft’s primary communication transponders, rather than an unexpected technical failure. The Artemis II mission, which is scheduled to carry four astronauts around the moon and back to Earth later this year, is a critical precursor to the Artemis III landing mission that aims to put the first woman and person of color on the lunar surface. The mission is designed to test all of the core systems required for long-duration deep space human flight, including communication networks, life support, and navigation capabilities, ahead of future crewed lunar landing missions and eventual crewed missions to Mars.

In a historic milestone that marks another leap forward in human deep space exploration, the four-person crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission has surpassed a half-century-old space distance record, pushing farther from Earth than any human mission has ever traveled.

By early Saturday, the mission had already exceeded the 248,655-mile (400,171-kilometer) benchmark set by the Apollo 13 crew back in 1970, a record that stood unbroken for 54 years. What makes this achievement even more remarkable is that the Artemis II spacecraft is still continuing its outbound trajectory, adding more distance between the crew and our home planet with every passing hour of the mission.

The record-breaking flight is a key test for NASA’s ambitious Artemis program, which aims to establish a sustained human presence on the moon and pave the way for future crewed missions to Mars. Apollo 13’s original record was set amid a harrowing near-disaster, when an oxygen tank explosion crippled the craft mid-mission and forced the crew to slingshot around the far side of the moon on their emergency return journey, racking up the distant milestone unexpectedly. In contrast, Artemis II’s flight is a carefully planned demonstration mission, designed to test all of the Orion spacecraft’s critical systems ahead of future lunar landing missions, carrying human astronauts deeper into the solar system than we have gone in decades.

As the mission continues its path beyond the moon, the Artemis II crew is already writing a new chapter in human space exploration, proving once again the continuous progress of humanity’s quest to explore beyond Earth’s boundaries.

For decades, the hidden far side of the Moon has captivated astronomers, space enthusiasts, and researchers alike, its rugged terrain locked from view from Earth’s surface and shrouded in a veil of scientific mystery. Now, a milestone in modern human space exploration has pulled back that curtain a little further: the four-person crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission has successfully completed a looping flyby trajectory that carried the spacecraft directly around the little-explored far side of Earth’s celestial companion.

The Artemis program, NASA’s flagship initiative to return humans to the lunar surface for the first time since the end of the Apollo program half a century ago, marked a critical proof-of-concept with this mission. Unlike the Apollo missions that primarily targeted near-lunar orbit and selected surface landing sites, Artemis II’s carefully calculated orbital path was designed specifically to test spacecraft systems, navigation capabilities, and deep space communication infrastructure while giving human observers their first up-close look at the lunar far side in decades.

During the period the spacecraft was blocked from direct line-of-contact with Earth, mission control teams relied on NASA’s lunar relay satellite network to maintain continuous communication with the crew, testing infrastructure that will support the upcoming Artemis III surface landing mission. The far side of the Moon, which differs dramatically from the near side in its geological composition — boasting thicker crust, more impact craters, and far fewer dark volcanic maria — offers unique scientific opportunities that have only been sampled by uncrewed orbiters and landers until now.

This successful flyby paves the way for future robotic and human exploration of the lunar far side, which scientists believe holds critical clues about the formation of the Earth-Moon system, early solar system impacts, and even offers a uniquely radio-quiet environment ideal for future deep space astronomy observations. For the Artemis program, the completion of this leg of the mission confirms that human deep space exploration capabilities are on track to establish a sustainable lunar outpost, and eventually prepare for human missions to Mars.

In a heartfelt, emotional tribute that blends personal loss with humanity’s ambition for deep space exploration, the four-member crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission has named a prominent crater on the surface of the Moon after the late wife of the mission’s commander, Reid Wiseman.

Wiseman’s spouse, Carolyn, lost her battle with cancer in 2020, when she was just 46 years old, leaving behind a legacy of warmth and resilience that her husband and his teammates have carried with them through every step of training for the historic lunar mission. The gesture, announced by the crew as they finalize preparations for their upcoming 10-day lunar flyby, marks a rare and deeply personal connection between a space exploration team and the celestial body they are set to study.

Carolyn Wiseman was widely remembered by those close to the couple as a passionate supporter of Reid’s career in spaceflight, often accompanying him to public events and encouraging his work advancing human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit. Her long fight with cancer, which ended three years before the Artemis II mission was scheduled to launch, became a source of quiet strength for Wiseman as he stepped into the role of leading NASA’s first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years.

For the Artemis program, which aims to establish a long-term sustainable presence on the Moon and pave the way for future human missions to Mars, the naming honors both personal loss and the often-unrecognized contributions of family members who stand behind astronauts as they pursue historic goals. The crater, located on the lunar near side in a region that will be clearly visible to the Artemis II crew during their orbit, will carry Carolyn’s name permanently in lunar mapping records, creating a lasting memorial that ties her memory to one of humanity’s greatest adventures.

Members of the crew have shared that the decision to name the crater was a unanimous one, rooted in their respect for the hardship Wiseman has overcome and the impact Carolyn had on everyone involved in the mission. What began as a personal journey through grief has become a universal reminder of the human stories that underpin every major space exploration achievement.

A young gray whale that wandered more than 20 miles inland into a Washington state river has been found dead, with marine researchers pointing to severe food scarcity along the species’ iconic migration route as the most probable cause.

The Cascadia Research Collective, a leading marine science research organization based in the Pacific Northwest, announced the death of the juvenile whale — nicknamed “Willapa Willy” by local community members — in a Facebook update shared Saturday. The group confirmed that it is currently assessing site safety conditions to conduct a full necropsy to confirm the exact cause of death.

Willapa Willy was first spotted last Wednesday in the north fork of the Willapa River, located roughly 145 miles southwest of Seattle. At the time of its initial sighting, researchers noted that while the whale appeared noticeably underweight, it showed no visible signs of injury and was behaving consistently with typical gray whale activity. Research teams held out hope that the animal would navigate back out to the Pacific Ocean on its own, but those hopes went unfulfilled when the whale was found dead days later.

John Calambokidis, a veteran research biologist with Cascadia Research Collective, explained to the Associated Press that unusual inland sightings like this are often tied to the species’ annual spring migration pattern. Every year, gray whales travel hundreds of miles north along the Pacific Coast to reach feeding grounds in the Arctic, drawing down stored fat and nutritional reserves to fuel the long journey. When food becomes scarce along the route or at their destination, hungry whales often stray far from their normal path in a desperate search for viable feeding areas — exactly the scenario that likely led Willapa Willy into the Willapa River, Calambokidis said.

In recent years, eastern Pacific gray whales have faced dramatic declines in available food sources in the northern Bering and Chukchi seas off Alaska’s coast, a crisis that sits at the center of growing threats to the species, Calambokidis added.

According to the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, eastern Pacific gray whales are a cornerstone of whale watching and ecotourism along the North American West Coast. Fully grown adults can reach up to 15 meters (49 feet) in length and weigh as much as 40,000 kilograms (90,000 pounds). Along their multi-thousand mile migration routes, the species already faces widespread threats from ship strikes and entanglement in commercial fishing gear. Unlike many other cetacean species, gray whales tend to travel alone, and long-term social bonds between individual whales are considered rare, per NOAA data.

Willapa Willy’s death is not an isolated incident: earlier this month, two full-grown adult gray whales washed up dead on beaches in the nearby Ocean Shores area. Post-mortem assessments found both adults were severely malnourished, and the male whale also showed major head trauma consistent with a ship strike.

Latest population surveys conducted in winter 2025 confirm that the overall eastern Pacific gray whale population continues to decline. NOAA Fisheries estimates the current population stands at roughly 13,000 individuals, the lowest recorded population count since the 1970s.

When NASA’s Artemis II mission crew glide into the shadow of the Moon on Monday, they will enter a rare and profound chapter of human space exploration that few have experienced before. Scheduled to begin at approximately 23:47 BST, the Moon’s bulk will completely block the radio and laser signals that connect the four astronauts aboard the Orion capsule to mission control 240,000 miles away on Earth. For nearly 40 minutes, the Artemis II crew will travel through the dark of the lunar far side, completely cut off from all contact with home.

This moment of intentional isolation is not an unplanned mishap—it is an unavoidable milestone of any lunar mission, one that links the current generation of Artemis explorers directly to the Apollo astronauts who first blazed this trail more than half a century ago. No human has ever traveled farther from Earth than the Artemis II astronauts, who have maintained a steady, calming connection with Houston mission control through every phase of their journey so far. That steady link, which has anchored the crew to home throughout their outward voyage, will vanish abruptly when they dip behind the lunar horizon.

In a pre-mission interview with BBC News, Artemis pilot Victor Glover shared his reflection on the coming silence, asking people across the globe to seize the 40 minutes as a moment of shared connection rather than distance. “When we’re behind the Moon, out of contact with everybody, let’s take that as an opportunity,” Glover said. “Let’s pray, hope, send your good thoughts and feelings that we get back in contact with the crew.”

The experience of lunar radio blackout carries heavy echoes of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, when command module pilot Michael Collins faced a nearly identical period of isolation while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made their historic first steps on the lunar surface. For 48 minutes as his module circled the far side of the Moon, Collins lost all contact with both his crewmates on the surface and mission control back on Earth. In his 1974 memoir *Carrying the Fire*, Collins wrote that he felt “truly alone” and “isolated from any known life,” but noted that he felt no fear or crippling loneliness. In later years, he even recalled the silence as a moment of unexpected peace, a welcome break from the constant stream of communications from mission control that filled his active workday.

While the astronauts themselves will get a rare, undisturbed window to focus on lunar observation during the blackout—capturing high-resolution imagery, mapping lunar geology, and simply absorbing the unparalleled view of the Moon up close—teams on the ground will spend the 40 minutes in quiet anticipation. At Goonhilly Earth Station in southwest England, a massive deep-space antenna has been tracking Orion’s position throughout the mission, feeding precise location data back to NASA headquarters. This marks the first time the facility has tracked a human-crewed lunar mission, and Goonhilly chief technology officer Matt Cosby admits the team will feel a flicker of tension during the blackout.

“We’re going to get slightly nervous as it goes behind the Moon, and then we’ll be very excited when we see it again, because we know that they’re all safe,” Cosby told the BBC. For the future of lunar exploration, however, communication blackouts like this one are expected to become a thing of the past. As NASA and other global space agencies work toward establishing a permanent sustainable lunar base and expanding exploration of the far side of the Moon, constant, reliable communications coverage will be a non-negotiable requirement.

“For a sustainable presence on the Moon, you need the full comms – you need the full 24 hours a day, even on the far side, because the far side will want to be explored as well,” Cosby explained. Initiatives like the European Space Agency’s Moonlight program are already moving forward with plans to deploy a network of communications satellites in lunar orbit, designed to deliver uninterrupted coverage for all future missions, regardless of where a craft or surface outpost is located around the Moon.

As the Artemis II crew prepare for their 40 minutes of silence, millions around the world will be waiting alongside ground teams for the moment the Orion capsule emerges from the Moon’s shadow. When the signal reconnects, the world will breathe a collective sigh of relief, and the history-making crew will once again be able to share their unprecedented views of the Earth and Moon with everyone waiting back home. The stunning new image of Earth captured by the crew from Orion in the past week, which has already captivated the public, offers a small preview of the breathtaking sights the astronauts will share once contact is restored.