Artemis II went around the Moon Monday. Did you catch these moments?

Ric Kearbey
10 hours ago
5 min read

Monday was one of those moments where you stop what you're doing and think… wait, this is actually happening right now.

You probably saw it all over the internet. And yeah… you probably also saw the usual theories about it being filmed in a Hollywood studio and humans never actually going to the Moon.

But stick with us, because what actually happened is so much better than any conspiracy theory. Yes, Artemis II went around the Moon.

Meet the crew of Artemis II, who flew around the Moon

Artemis II astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen inside the Orion spacecraft before their Moon flyby mission. — Artemis II NASA astronauts (left to right) Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen stand in the white room on the crew access arm of the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B as part of an integrated ground systems test at Kennedy Space Center in Florida in 2023. NASA/Frank Michaux

Four astronauts were tucked inside their Orion spacecraft for the ride of a lifetime:

Commander Reid Wiseman
Pilot Victor Glover
Mission Specialist Christina Koch
Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen

They launched on April 1st, and no, that was not a prank. By Monday they were living the dream: breaking records and seeing things no human eyes had ever laid on before.

Houston, We Have a Toilet Problem

Toilet inside NASA’s Orion spacecraft used during the Artemis II Moon flyby mission — *Orion’s toilet. Credit: Canadian Space Agency*

The real drama of this mission didn't involve engines or orbits.

It involved the plumbing.

Here is the messy reality of traveling to the Moon:

The Six-Hour Snag: Just hours after launch, a fan jam broke the zero-gravity toilet. The crew could handle "business 1," but "business 2" was strictly off-limits.
The Space Plumber: Mission Specialist Christina Koch earned her stripes by diving into the hardware, following radioed instructions from Earth, and successfully resurrecting the system.
The Burning Smell: Days later, a mysterious "electric heater" odor forced the crew back to backup bags. Engineers eventually gave the all-clear, but not before things got... cozy.
Navigation by... Urine: At one point, Mission Control halted a liquid waste dump. Why? Because venting pee in space creates enough thrust to actually push the spacecraft off course and confuse the sensors.

Fun Fact: On Apollo 10, a "stray" piece of waste famously floated through the cabin. The mission transcript is a piece of history you can never un-read.

Space travel has come a long way since the plastic bags of the 1960s, but some problems remain truly universal. Even on the way to the Moon, someone eventually has to fix the toilet.

They broke a record that's been standing since 1970

Earthset seen rising above the Moon’s horizon during the Artemis II Moon flyby mission captured from NASA’s Orion spacecraft — Earthset is captured through the Orion spacecraft window at 6:41 p.m. EDT, Monday, April 6, 2026, during the Artemis II crew’s flyby of the moon. (NASA)

First big moment? They smashed the old distance record set by the Apollo 13 crew way back in 1970. At around 2 p.m. Eastern, they sailed farther from Earth than any humans ever have, eventually hitting a whopping 252,756 miles out.

That's like driving to the Moon and then deciding, "Eh, let's go a little farther for the view."

The main event: flying around the Far Side

Then came the moment everyone had been waiting for: the lunar flyby. They swung super close to the Moon's surface, just about 4,067 miles away, close enough to feel like you could almost high-five a crater, before looping around the far side.

And when they did? Total radio silence.

For 40 minutes, the longest communications blackout in human spaceflight history, Mission Control could do nothing but sit there and wait.

Forty minutes of nail-biting silence from 250,000 miles away.

No texts. No updates. Nothing.

Just waiting.

What did they do during the Blackout? Cookies. Obviously.

Artemis II astronauts inside NASA’s Orion spacecraft during the Moon flyby mission sharing a moment together in orbit — The Artemis II crew takes interviews from the Orion capsule in outer space. From left, Reid Wiseman, Jeremy Hansen, Christina Koch, and Victor Glover (NASA)

So what did the crew do during those 40 minutes with no one watching? They had cookies. Maple cream cookies, courtesy of Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

Because apparently when you're behind the Moon for the first time in over 50 years… you celebrate with snacks.

Honestly, it's what I do on a long road trip too.

Earthrise, solar eclipses, and jaw-dropping views

Artemis II astronaut looking out the Orion spacecraft window at Earth during the Moon flyby mission — NASA astronaut Christina Koch peers out of a window on the Orion capsule, looking back at Earth (NASA)

When they came back around, the crew experienced moments that would make even the most jaded person stop scrolling:

An Earthrise, watching our pale blue home slowly rise over the lunar horizon
A solar eclipse from space, where the Moon completely blocked the Sun for nearly an hour, leaving a glowing halo of the Sun's outer atmosphere wrapped around the edges like something out of a science fiction movie
Hours of never-before-seen photos of lunar craters, ancient lava flows, and features few eyes had ever directly observed

Except it wasn't science fiction. It was Monday afternoon.

The Moon appears as a dark silhouette surrounded by a glowing solar corona during a solar eclipse as seen from the Orion spacecraft during the Artemis II mission — The moon, seen here backlit by the sun during a solar eclipse on Monday, is photographed by one of the cameras on the Orion spacecraft's solar array wings. (NASA)

The moment that got everyone

Amid all the record-breaking and cookie-eating, there was a quietly beautiful moment.

One lunar crater was named after Commander Wiseman's late wife, Carroll. A tribute from 250,000 miles away that probably made more than a few people at Mission Control tear up.

When NASA's chief asked the crew to sum up the entire journey in a single word, Mission Specialist Christina Koch said humility, and reminded everyone that none of this happens without the countless people who came before them.

And now they're coming home

Artemis II astronauts inside the Orion spacecraft wearing eclipse glasses while observing the solar eclipse during their Moon flyby mission — The Artemis II crew — mission specialist Christina Koch (top left), Glover (top right), Hansen (bottom left) and Wiseman — use eclipse viewers to protect their eyes at key moments during the solar eclipse they experienced during their lunar flyby. This was the first use of eclipse glasses at the moon to safely view a solar eclipse. (NASA)

The crew is now on the long, graceful loop back to Earth, scheduled to splash down in the Pacific near San Diego on Friday. No Moon landing this time, just a test run to make sure everything works perfectly for the future missions that will actually put boots back on the lunar dirt.

After more than 50 years since the last Apollo crew waved goodbye to the Moon, humans are back in the neighborhood.

Next time you're grumbling about traffic or a cloudy forecast, just remember: some folks are out there looping around the Moon like it's no big deal.

Space nerds, we are absolutely living in exciting times.

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