Last Updated on April 8, 2026 10:05 pm by INDIAN AWAAZ
AMN/ WEB DESK
NASA’s Artemis II mission made history again when the crew, traveling on their Orion spacecraft, completed the first-ever ship to ship call between a human moon mission and the International Space Station.
This was the first time people traveling near the Moon communicated directly with people in a spacecraft orbiting Earth. During the call, Christina Koch on Artemis II spoke with Jessica Meir on the space station.
The two had earlier worked together on the first all-female spacewalk in 2019.
NASA’s Mission Control helped arrange this special conversation between the four Artemis II astronauts and the four crew members aboard the space station.
Earlier, Artemis II set a new record for the farthest distance humans have traveled from Earth.
Orion spacecraft reached about 252,752 miles from Earth during a flyby of the Moon’s far side which set a new distance record for humanity.
This achievement also surpassed the Apollo 13 record of 248,655 miles set in 1970.
As the Artemis II spacecraft headed back to Earth, Commander Reid Wiseman shared photos from the Moon. One standout image showed Earth setting behind the Moon, similar to the famous Earthrise photo taken during Apollo 8.
This mission is the first time humans have traveled so far from Earth since Apollo 17.
After about 10 days in space the crew plans to splashdown in the ocean near San Diego on Saturday April 11, 2026 at 5:37 A.M. IST, after about 10 days in space.
Artemis II is an important step toward future missions. Next year Artemis III will test lunar landing systems, and Artemis IV aims to land astronauts near the Moon’s south pole in 2028.