Communication was lost with the Artemis 2 crew for about 40 minutes.The astronauts were able to observe details of the far side of the Moon.

The crew of the Artemis 2 mission, part of NASA, delivered a moving human message to Earth just before losing communication while orbiting the Moon—a moment that received widespread attention.

The crewed mission was launched on April 1 as part of a ten-day journey, marking a historic step—the first of its kind since 1972—within NASA’s efforts to explore deep space and return humans to lunar orbit.

During the early hours of Tuesday morning, the four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft successfully completed their orbit around the Moon before communication was temporarily lost as they passed behind its dark side.

“We love you from the Moon”

Before the expected blackout, the crew sent a touching message filled with emotion: “As we prepare to lose communication… to everyone on Earth and around it, we love you from the Moon.”

The crew included American astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. The communication blackout lasted about 40 minutes, which is normal when passing behind the Moon.

During those moments, the astronauts were able to observe details of the Moon’s far side and witnessed a total solar eclipse from their unique position in space, in a rare scientific and visual experience.

Farthest point from Earth

According to NASA, the spacecraft reached its farthest distance from Earth during the mission—about 252,000 miles—surpassing the previous record set by the Apollo 13 mission in 1970.

After communication was restored, the crew began their journey back to Earth, in a mission considered a pivotal step toward returning humans to the Moon and paving the way for a new era of deep space exploration.