The Artemis II crew enters a 40-minute blackout behind the far side of the moon

During this unprecedented moment, the crew — Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen — became the most famous. Isolated humans In the history of deep space.

The power outage occurred after the spacecraft lost line of sight to Earth, with the moon completely blocking satellite communications.

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The Artemis 2 crew, from left, Canadian astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, Commander Reed Wiseman, mission specialist Christina Koch, and pilot Victor Glover appear in a video conference from lunar orbit Thursday, April 2, 2026. (NASA via AP)

Contact is expected to return around 7:25 PM ET, when Earth reappears on the other side of the Moon’s horizon in a moment known as “Earthrise.”

Ground control confirmed this NASA does not expect Takes no risks identified during the mission but is prepared for potential emergencies.

For example, astronauts have recently trained to perform basic tasks, such as drinking a protein shake or administering medication, while wearing bulky orange launch and entry suits in case they have to remain in the equipment for an extended period.

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The Artemis II crew was launched toward the moon on Thursday after a roughly 5-minute burn that put the Orion spacecraft on a trajectory outside Earth’s orbit for a nearly 8-day journey to the lunar body and back. (NASA)

NASA also noted that if the spacecraft is punctured, Orion is equipped to continuously pump oxygen to maintain cabin pressure, giving the crew plenty of time to safely don their pressurized suits.

The Artemis II crew will also reach several major milestones during the blackout, including becoming the first humans to witness never-before-seen views of the far side of the Moon.

At 7:05 PM ET, the spacecraft is expected to reach its furthest point from Earth at 252,760 miles, marking another major milestone and surpassing Apollo 13’s record by about 4,105 miles.

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Before bed on the fifth flight day, the Artemis 2 crew took another photo of the moon, as it approached the window of the Orion spacecraft. (NASA)

At its closest point, about 4,070 miles from the lunar surface, the moon is expected to appear the size of a basketball at arm’s length, according to NASA.

While the ground control and scientific evaluation room will not be able to interact with the astronauts during this specified period, the crew will continue to implement their plan to target the moon and Conduct scientific observations Throughout the blackout period.

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The astronauts are expected to follow the historical path Apollo sitesExplore future landing zones and capture rare views of nearby planets, including Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn, while also observing a solar eclipse from Orion’s unique vantage point.

Earlier in the afternoon, NASA announced that the crew had broken the Earth distance record set by Apollo 13 in 1970.