Artemis II Flight Day 7: Crew Makes Long‑Distance Call, Begins Return

art002e009288 (April 6, 2026) – Earthset captured through the Orion spacecraft window at 6:41 p.m. EDT, April 6, 2026, during the Artemis II crew’s flyby of the Moon. A muted blue Earth with bright white clouds sets behind the cratered lunar surface. The dark portion of Earth is experiencing nighttime. On Earth’s day side, swirling clouds are visible over the Australia and Oceania region. In the foreground, Ohm crater has terraced edges and a flat floor interrupted by central peaks. Central peaks form in complex craters when the lunar surface, liquefied on impact, splashes upwards during the crater’s formation.

(April 6, 2026) – Earthset captured through the Orion spacecraft window at 6:41 p.m. EDT, April 6, 2026, during the Artemis II crew’s flyby of the Moon. A muted blue Earth with bright white clouds sets behind the cratered lunar surface. The dark portion of Earth is experiencing nighttime. On Earth’s day side, swirling clouds are visible over the Australia and Oceania region. In the foreground, Ohm crater has terraced edges and a flat floor interrupted by central peaks. Central peaks form in complex craters when the lunar surface, liquefied on impact, splashes upwards during the crater’s formation.

NASA

After their historic lunar flyby on April 6, the Artemis II crew is awake and preparing for the journey back to Earth. The crew started the day 36,286 miles from the Moon and 236,022 miles from Earth, waking to the sounds of “Tokyo Drifting,” by Glass Animals and Denzel Curry.

At 1:23 p.m. EDT, the Orion spacecraft and its crew — NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen — will exit the lunar sphere of influence, marking their shift out of the Moon’s gravity.

First images from flyby

Earlier Tuesday, The White House and NASA shared the first images from the lunar flyby featuring Earthset (above) and the solar eclipse (below):

(April 6, 2026) – Captured by the Artemis II crew during their lunar flyby on April 6, 2026, this image shows the Moon fully eclipsing the Sun. From the crew’s perspective, the Moon appears large enough to completely block the Sun, creating nearly 54 minutes of totality and extending the view far beyond what is possible from Earth. The corona forms a glowing halo around the dark lunar disk, revealing details of the Sun’s outer atmosphere typically hidden by its brightness. Also visible are stars, typically too faint to see when imaging the Moon, but with the Moon in darkness stars are readily imaged. This unique vantage point provides both a striking visual and a valuable opportunity for astronauts to document and describe the corona during humanity’s return to deep space. The faint glow of the nearside of the Moon is visible in this image, having been illuminated by light reflected off the Earth.

NASA

Artemis II reaches out to Expedition 74

The Artemis II crew will speak with NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, and Chris Williams, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot aboard the International Space Station during a 15-minute ship-to-ship, audio-only call beginning at 2:40 p.m. to share their mission experiences. The call can be heard on NASA’s YouTube channel.

Lunar science download

Before Orion travels too far from the Moon, the crew will join science officers on the ground at 3 p.m. for a debrief. Teams are eager to hear the crewmembers’ impressions while yesterday’s lunar flyby is still fresh in their minds, gathering insights that will help inform future lunar science and exploration efforts.

Taking a break

Following the science debrief, the crew will have staggered off-duty periods, giving them time to rest and recharge before beginning their final tasks for the return to Earth.

NASA will host a mission status briefing at 4:30 p.m. on the agency’s YouTube channel.

Homeward bound

Marking their first push home, Orion’s thrusters are planned to ignite at 9:03 p.m. for the first of three return trajectory correction burns. This maneuver will adjust the spacecraft’s path and refine Orion’s course toward Earth. Koch and Hansen will review procedure and monitor spacecraft systems during the return burn.

View the latest imagery from the Artemis II mission on our Artemis II Multimedia Resource Page. Please follow @NASAArtemis on X, Facebook, and Instagram for real-time updates. Live mission coverage is available on NASA’s YouTube channel.