We did it.
We have returned to the moon
after 54 years. Setting foot on our moon
had become a distant memory. All that
was left to remind us we ever visited
was a collection of grainy film reels,
some iconic photographs, and a few
hundred kilograms of lunar rock.
But on the 1st of April, 2026, that
changed. We went back. Not boots on the
ground yet, but in the vicinity at
least.
And Artemis 2 wasn't just a repeat of
Apollo. It was a total reimagining of
how we explore. From high-definition
laser streams to real-time observations
of meteor slamming into the lunar crust,
this 10-day voyage has revealed our
closest celestial neighbor in ways we've
never seen before.
But every step into the unknown comes
with risk. Between critical engine leaks
and malfunctioning life support, not all
was as smooth as it seemed.
I'm Alex McColgan, and you're watching
Astrum. Join me today as we leave Earth
and head back to the moon. We'll look at
the triumphs, the discoveries, and the
narrow escapes of the Artemis 2 mission,
paving the way for our return to the
moon.
On the 1st of April, 2026, at 6:35 p.m.
EDT, the countdown reached zero, and
humanity was on its way back to the moon
for the first time in more than 50
years.
The SLS rocket produced a staggering
39.1
million Newtons of thrust as it set off
from the launch complex 39B at the
Kennedy Space Center, pushing the
integrity capsule through the sound
barrier within seconds. Inside,
Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor
Glover, and mission specialist Christina
Koch and Jeremy Hansen were pressed into
their seats by forces reaching nearly 4
Gs.
Artemis II was finally on its way.
In less than 9 minutes, the crew were
already in orbit around Earth.
But, they weren't heading straight for
the moon.
Instead, they spent the first 24 hours
in this high elliptical Earth orbit on a
trip designated as a shakedown cruise.
This was a critical testing phase,
making sure every system was working as
it should before pushing on into deeper
space.
After all, this was the first time four
humans were living and breathing inside
the Orion architecture. They needed to
make sure it was performing properly
before leaving the relative safety of
Earth orbit.
The crew performed checks on the
environmental control [music] and life
support system, monitoring the Scrubber
is designed to pull carbon dioxide and
water vapor out of the [music] cabin
air.
It sounds like a routine check, but in
microgravity, carbon dioxide is a silent
killer.
Without the convection we have on Earth,
carbon dioxide doesn't disperse. It
pools in stagnant pockets right in front
of your face.
If the ventilation fails, you could
effectively suffocate while wide awake.
A sobering thought when you're thousands
of kilometers away from any potential
rescue. [music]
A little over 3 hours into the mission,
the crew also conducted proximity
operations, where they used the
jettisoned interim cryogenic propulsion
stage as a reference target, maneuvering
Orion within close range to simulate the
docking procedures required for the
Artemis III and IV missions.
Over the course of 70 minutes, they
repeatedly performed controlled approach
and retreat maneuvers, collecting
precise navigation data.
Out here space, the crew had no GPS to
rely on, only the physics of the engine
and the steadiness of pilot Victor
Glover's hand.
However, even this early phase wasn't
without its hiccups.
Not long after launch, the crew realized
that a valve in their water dispenser
had closed itself due to the immense G
forces.
A faulty valve meant the crew couldn't
count on getting water out of the main
tanks in the usual way. So, they
manually extracted 7 L of it into backup
bags using syringes and straws just to
make sure they would have enough to
drink for the rest of the mission.
Even more concerning was a leak
discovered in the helium manifolds, a
part of the rocket used to pressurize
the propulsion system.
The leak rate was noted to be an order
of magnitude higher than anything seen
during ground testing. But thankfully,
mission controllers determined it was
still within acceptable safety limits.
For all these problems, floating in
space must have been a dream come true
for the astronauts. I'm certainly
jealous of them. I'd love to experience
the feeling of weightlessness. If that
free to most countries around the world. Go check it out.
The next stage of the mission began on
the 2nd of April when the Orion
spacecraft service module engine ignited
for the translunar injection burn, a
6-minute firing that accelerated Orion
to nearly 40,000 km/h, enough to escape
Earth's gravity.
As they left the planet behind, Orion
transitioned to a new era of deep-space
communications. Alongside the
traditional S-band radio of the
deep-space network, which has been the
backbone of spaceflight since Apollo,
Artemis II debuted a game-changer,
the O2O, or Orion Artemis II optical
communications terminal.
The system uses near-infrared laser
light at a wavelength of 1,550
nm. [music]
Unlike radio waves, which spread out
significantly over long distances, these
lasers remain tightly focused, allowing
[music] for a 30-fold increase in data
density. At its peak, O2O downloaded
data at 260 MB/s, enough to stream
high-definition 4K video from around the
moon all the way back to ground stations
in New Mexico and California.
By day four, the O2O terminal had
transmitted more than 100 GB of data.
Among these files was the already
infamous "Hello World" photo captured by
Commander Wiseman through Integrity's
window. It shows Earth as a dark sphere
lit only by a thin razor-sharp rim of
light as it eclipses the Sun.
To capture the faint details of the
Earth's night side, Wiseman had to push
his Nikon D5 camera to a staggering ISO
of 51,200
with a quarter second shutter speed.
The camera is so sensitive that it also
saw something the human eye could only
dream of. The ethereal green glow of the
auroras shimmering at the poles and the
planet Venus as a bright silver glint in
the corner of the frame. You can even
see our atmosphere with airglow from
excited sodium atoms lighting up its
very edge and the zodiacal light from
space dust reflecting sunlight, a
phenomenon usually seen only in the
darkest skies on Earth.
This, to my mind, is one of the most
beautiful images ever captured by a
human hand and it was the first of many
as the mission progressed.
But while the view from the window of
Integrity was spectacular, it was what
the crew couldn't see that posed a great
threat.
As Integrity left the protective
magnetic umbrella of Earth, the crew
faced the invisible hazard of deep space
radiation.
Radiation beyond Earth's orbit is up to
100 times more powerful than what we
experience on the ground consisting of
galactic cosmic rays and solar particle
events.
To track this, Orion was equipped with
six hybrid electronic radiation
assessors and four specialized detectors
called M42EXTs
which featured six times the resolution
of previous models to distinguish
between hazardous heavy ions and
protons.
But why did they want to track it with
such precision? Well, radiation can have
a huge impact on the human body, and we
don't [music] fully understand how,
particularly in space. Artemis II gave
NASA the opportunity to look at the
biological impacts of going to the moon.
Riding along in the cabin were tissue
chips, part of the Avatar investigation,
which stands for a virtual astronaut
tissue analog response.
These chips, roughly the size of a USB
drive, contained living human cells
grown to mimic the structures of the
heart, lungs, and bone marrow. By flying
these biological proxies, which were
derived from the astronauts' own stem
cells, scientists could observe cellular
damage and immune function changes in
real time.
Later in the mission, the crew was
supposed to practice a sheltering
maneuver, moving equipment and water
bags to create a thick barrier in the
stowage lockers.
While this demo was eventually shortened
to make room for other tests. In the
event of a severe solar storm, the safe
room would be their only protection
against acute radiation sickness, which
can cause symptoms ranging from nausea
and skin burning to long-term [music]
cancer risks. It's a haunting thought.
Four humans huddle behind water bags in
a dark locker, millions of kilometers
from help. It begs the question, is the
moon really worth such a terrifying
gamble?
Well, on day six, as the darkness gave
way to a looming cratered horizon, the
crew got their answer.
When the Artemis astronauts peered out
of the window on the 6th of April, Earth
was no longer the largest world in view.
Instead, our tiny moon dominated the
vista. Integrity was entering the lunar
sphere of influence.
But, this came [music] with another the
of risks. As they swung around the far
side of the moon, all communication went
silent. For 40 long minutes, the crew
was completely cut off from Earth as the
moon itself blocked out radio signals.
The four astronauts were truly alone.
Then, a crackle of static broke the
silence. As Integrity cleared the lunar
limb, the O2O laser system locked back
onto Earth and the crew's voices
returned to mission control. [music]
Houston, this is
Integrity, calm check. They had
successfully emerged from the shadow
[music] of the moon, only to find
themselves farther from Earth than any
human has ever been. 406,771
[music]
km from home, shattering the 56-year-old
record set by the crew of Apollo 13.
This moment birthed the term moon joy,
a profound sense of human connection and
awe as the crew relayed descriptions
with a human voice, something no robotic
cameras could ever replicate. [music]
Christina Koch described the lunar
landscape becoming real to her, noting
how the moon looked like a sponge of
light turning from an electric gray to
olive brown once the brightness of Earth
entered her field of view.
The crew utilized their extensive
geology training to describe features
like the Orientale basin.
This nearly 1,000 km wide impact crater
sits on the boundary between the near
and far sides of the moon. Wiseman
described it as a annular ring that
looked like a pair of lips or a kiss on
the surface.
The crew also noted mysterious
squiggles, winding surface features
whose origins remain a topic of intense
scientific debate.
But Artemis was never just about seeing
the moon.
For the astronauts at least, it was far
more personal than that.
Amidst the high-stakes science, the
mission paused for a moment of profound
personal reflection. While passing over
the boundary of the near and far sides,
mission specialist Jeremy Hansen
requested the naming of two previously
unnamed craters.
The first was named Integrity, a fitting
tribute to the vessel that carried them
there.
But it was the second name that carried
the most weight, Carol, in honor of
Carol Taylor Wiseman, the late wife of
Commander Reid Wiseman.
When Carol was diagnosed with cancer in
2015, Reid had considered walking away
from NASA entirely to be by her side,
but she wouldn't let him.
Instead, she pushed him to stay in the
Artemis program.
While Carol never got to see Commander
Wiseman reach the moon, her name is now
a permanent part of it.
Inside the cabin, the crew embraced in a
group hug that was felt by millions
watching on Earth.
Carol crater is a small, bright spot
roughly 5.6 km across, located on the
western limb of the moon.
Because of its position, it is
occasionally visible from Earth with a
powerful telescope, allowing Wiseman's
daughters, Katie and Ellie, to look up
and see their mother's legacy on its
surface.
What a wonderful tribute.
And there was another poignant moment in
this phase of the mission.
This is Earthset, a haunting image taken
by Commander Wiseman that echoes the
iconic Earth rise image taken by Apollo
8 astronaut Bill Anders some 58 years
ago as he too flew around the moon.
It truly makes you appreciate how
special Earth and our place in the
universe is.
And there are still more spectacular
images on the way.
As Orion moved into the moon shadow, the
crew experienced a total solar eclipse
from a vantage point never before seen
by human eyes. For nearly an hour, the
moon, appearing five times larger than
the sun, blocked out the solar disc.
The astronauts used special eclipse
glasses to study the sun's corona, the
sun's outermost atmospheric layer, which
appeared as a glowing halo around the
dark lunar disc.
In this image from the onboard cameras,
you'll notice a faint ghostly glow clean
to the left edge of the moon.
This is Earthshine,
sunlight reflecting off our own planet
to light up the lunar limb.
Even more impressively, with the sun's
glare hidden behind the moon, the crew
witnessed a rare planetary parade.
Saturn, Mars, Mercury, and Venus
all appeared in images of the eclipse as
bright point sources in the dark
background.
This darkness also allowed for one of
the moon's most startling scientific
discoveries.
While observing the night side of the
moon, Wiseman and Hanson spotted quick
flashes of light. These were impact
flashes, millisecond-long bursts of
bluish-white light caused by
micrometeorites
slamming into the lunar surface at tens
of kilometers per second and vaporizing
on impact.
The crew logged at least six distinct
[music]
impacts. In Houston's science evaluation
room, geologists were jumping up and
down with delight.
Witnessing these events in real time is
exceptionally rare and proves that the
moon is under a much more constant
bombardment than previous models
suggested. The data is critical for the
safety of future outposts, and it
suggests that the daily flux of meteors
must be monitored more closely before
establishing permanent bases.
It turns out micrometeorite impacts on
the moon could be a much bigger hazard
than we ever thought.
But, it was also a test of human
patience.
The cabin is roughly the size of a small
camper van, and for 10 days it was home
to four people. That's not a lot of
space, especially if you have toilet
troubles.
It might sound silly, but one of the
most significant challenges the Artemis
II crew suffered was
the toilet.
The spacecraft's waste water venting
system malfunctioned several times,
causing the storage tanks to fill
prematurely and rendering the toilet
unusable for long periods of time.
This forced the crew to resort to backup
urine collection bags, a messy, and I
would imagine mildly disgusting, reality
of deep space travel. Mission specialist
Christina Koch, drawing on her
engineering background, became a space
plumber, performing in-flight plumbing
repairs to keep the systems running.
There were lighter moments, too, of
course.
On Easter Sunday, the crew held a zero-g
egg hunt, searching for packets of
dehydrated scrambled eggs hidden around
the spacecraft.
They were also joined by RICE, a plush
mascot designed by eight-year-old Lucas
Yee from Mountain View, California.
RICE served as the mission's
zero-gravity indicator, a small,
hat-wearing plushy that became a viral
sensation, symbolizing the mission's
Moon Joy, and carrying more than 5.6
million names of people from Earth on an
SD card inside his pocket. It was a
beautiful connection to home.
But, home was still more than a quarter
of a million kilometers away, and as the
mission turned back towards Earth, the
focus of ground teams shifted to a
growing concern in the service module's
propulsion system.
The helium leak detected early in the
flight had remained an issue.
Helium is used to pressurize the
propellant tanks, pushing the fuel into
the thrusters, and [music] any loss of
pressure could compromise the
spacecraft's ability to maneuver.
As I mentioned before, NASA's Associate
Administrator Amit Kshatriya confirmed
that the leak rate in flight was an
order of magnitude higher than what was
observed on the ground. While it didn't
threaten the safety of Artemis II, the
anomaly has forced a significant change
in the program's road map. NASA has
indicated that the valve system will
likely require an extensive redesign
before it is certified for the long
duration orbital maneuvers of Artemis IV
in 2028.
This is the very essence of why Artemis
II exists. It is a detailed test
objective. This is where we push the
limits of the hardware in a controlled
environment, if you can ever call space
that, so that flaws can be fixed before
the stakes get even higher on the lunar
surface.
But, space hazards weren't the only
thing troubling the astronauts.
One part of the mission people were
particularly concerned about was getting
home, and specifically re-entry into the
atmosphere.
Getting to the moon is one thing, but
getting back is arguably more dangerous,
and that's been the case since the times
of Apollo 11. Take a look at my videos
covering this on Astrom Extra if you
want to understand exactly why.
And even after nearly 60 years, the
method hasn't really changed. For the
Artemis II crew, the return to Earth was
a four-day journey with Integrity
reaching a peak velocity of nearly
40,000 km/h. This is about 32 times the
speed of sound.
To protect the heat shield, Orion
performed a skip re-entry. You might
remember that from my last video about
the mission.
The spacecraft hit the upper atmosphere
at precise angle, briefly skipped back
up into the void to lose kinetic energy
and heat, and then made its final
plunge. This maneuver kept the
temperatures on the heat shield around
2,760°
C
within the safety margins for the
modified Avcoat material.
As the capsule slammed into the
atmosphere, the friction was so intense
that it tore the air molecules apart,
turning the surrounding air into
superheated plasma.
This sheath of ionized plasma acted as a
signal barrier, blocking all radio
communication with the crew.
For six agonizing minutes, they
completely cut off from Houston once
again, and the world held its breath as
a single pinprick of light was tracked
by infrared cameras on recovery
aircrafts.
Through the static, Reid Wiseman's voice
finally punched through.
Houston, we have integrity. We have you
loud and clear.
The relief across mission control was
instant. Moments later, three massive
parachutes, each more than 13 m in
diameter, opened against the California
sky,
slowing the capsule to a gentle 27 km/h
splashdown.
The mission ended at 5:07 p.m. Pacific
Daylight Time on the 10th of April with
a bull's-eye splashdown in the Pacific
Ocean west of Baja California.
The recovery ship, the USS John P.
Murtha, was positioned within a mile of
the landing site.
Navy divers approached in inflatable
boats, checking for toxic propellant
leaks before installing the front porch,
a large inflatable raft that wrapped
around the floating capsule.
The four astronauts exited the side
hatch onto the porch, where they were
given initial medical assessments before
being hoisted into the MH-60S C Hawk
helicopters and flown to the ship's
medical bay.
Commander Reid Wiseman was last to leave
the capsule, but he didn't leave alone.
He carried Rice with him, stuffing the
mascot into a dry bag on his pressure
suit to ensure no man or plush would be
left behind.
Within 24 hours, the crew was back at
the Johnson Space Center in Houston,
reuniting with their families and
marking the [music] end of a 1.1 million
kilometer journey.
Since then, the science work hasn't
stopped. The astronauts' experience of
microgravity is being used to work on
treatments for vertigo, and the Orion
capsule was also successfully rescued
from beneath the waves, ready for
further examination back at base.
And the next step, of course, is the
Artemis 3 mission, which, whilst
initially it was set to be a lunar
landing mission,
>> [music]
>> has now been changed to a low Earth
orbit test of the docking procedures
with potential landing craft. At the
moment, we don't know whether this will
be the SpaceX or Blue Origin's lander,
but we do know it won't happen until
late 2027 at the earliest. And
unfortunately, that's not the only
setback.
As we set our sights to Artemis 4 and
NASA astronauts touching down on the
moon once again, we are already seeing
issues with the astronaut's space suits.
A report of NASA's Office of Inspector
General, an independent federal
watchdog, has said that development is
behind and risks not being ready in
time.
The new suits are needed because NASA's
current versions used for space walks on
the International Space Station were
designed more than 50 years ago and
haven't been changed at all in more than
20. They simply aren't made for the
harsh environments of the moon.
In 2022, NASA commissioned two
companies, Axiom Space and Collins
Aerospace, to come up with a new option,
but in 2024, Collins dropped out as they
couldn't do it in the time required.
Whilst Axiom says that they will have
demos ready in 2027. The clock is well
and truly ticking for a potential 2028
Artemis 4 launch.
The voyage of integrity has come to an
end.
But the era of Artemis is only just
beginning. We have proven that our
rockets can reach the moon and our
lasers can stream the wonders of the
cosmos in 4K and that the human spirit
remains as curious as it was in 1969.
The anomalies we faced, the leaks and
the toilet issues, are not signs of
failure, but the very reason we fly
these test missions. They are the
lessons we learn now with Orion so that
the permanent bases of the future can be
safe.
As the crew reunites with families, they
leave behind a moon that is no longer a
distant ghost. It's a world where a
crater named Carol now shines as a
permanent monument to human memory.
Artemis 3 is still a way away, but I
think it's fair to say we are on our way
back to the moon. And this time we're
going to stay. I can't wait for the
moment we get to see human boots touch
down on the surface once more.
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