Artemis Crew's Lunar Flyby: A New Era of Space Exploration

0:00On April 7, NASA mission control in Houston just got back in touch with the Artemis astronauts after a planned 40-minute comms blackout as there, spacecraft looped behind the moon. The crew nailed a 6-hour-plus observation session, snapping details of the lunar surface that robots only hinted at before. This marks NASA's first crewed lunar fly-by in over 50 years, part of a 10-day mission with three Americans and one Canadian aboard the Orion capsule. They documented fresh views while out of sight from Earth. Astronaut Kristina Koch summed it up post-blackout, saying they'll always choose Earth and each other. Then President Trump jumped on the line, hailing them as modern-day pioneers and congratulating the team for making America proud. Trump chatted them up, asking about the far side of the moon and that silent stretch. Pilot Victor Glover said he said a little prayer, but kept logging science data. While Canadian Jeremy Hanson praised US leadership for pulling, nations together on big goals.

1:00Now the astronauts are cruising back toward a splash-down, loaded with that on craters, a solar eclipse, and meteor hits that could unlock new lunar. Secrets? Trump's even got them lined up for a White House visit to celebrate the win.