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  "path": "/science/artemis-ii-nasa-loses-contact-moon-mission",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-06T22:49:49.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Artemis II capsule",
    "furthest distance a human has ever flown from Earth",
    "the team of four",
    "Nasa shares chilling photo from Artemis II capsule as it prepares to jet around Moon's dark side",
    "Artemis II astronauts set to witness mysterious Moon feature in direct sunlight for first time",
    "Artemis II spacecraft's toilet BREAKS hours after launch as Nasa scrambles to find loo",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nNasa lost contact with the Artemis II capsule on Monday night after it rounded the dark side of the Moon.\n\nJust hours after setting the record for the furthest distance a human has ever flown from Earth, the Orion module was cut off entirely.\n\nForty minutes later, as expected, the spacecraft reestablished connection with mission control.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nWhile on the far side, Orion's onboard computers carried out an engine burn to bend it onto its return arc back home.\n\nDuring this time, the radio and laser signals that allow communication between the spacecraft and Houston were blocked by the Moon itself.\n\nEngineers on the ground faced a nervous wait for the team of four to make contact once again.\n\nThen, just before half past midnight, they received a message from astronaut Christina Koch: \"Houston, Integrity, comm check... It is so great to hear from Earth again.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\nPilot Victor Glover said before the cut-off: \"To all of you down there, we love you from the Moon.\"\n\n\"Houston copies, we'll see you on the other side,\" a scientist at Nasa said in response.\n\nMr Glover replied: \"We will see you on the other side,\" before silence set in.\n\nCanadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen sent a message to his family down back on our planet, including his wife Catherine and his son Devon.\n\n\"I just wanted to let them know how much fun we're having out here,\" he said. \"It's extraordinary to be on the far side of the moon right now. Just see it hanging out there looking back at the Earth.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\"Just wanted to say hi to all you guys, love you guys and we'll be heading back your way shortly.\"\n\nWhile cut off from mission control, the team - Mr Glover, Mr Hansen, Ms Koch and Reid Wiseman - were the first people in history to lay eyes on parts of the Moon's dark side.\n\nThey took photos and studied the Moon's geology from above, \"reading the rocks\" and picking out features like cliffs, craters and frozen lava flows - and photographed them in ultra‑high detail.\n\nThe team also studied \"impact flashes\" - tiny bursts of light released when small space rocks slam into the Moon.\n\nImages alongside laser and camera data from the Orion module itself will help geologists piece together how the Moon's crust was formed over billions of years.\n\n### ARTEMIS II - READ MORE:\n\n\n\n\n  * Nasa shares chilling photo from Artemis II capsule as it prepares to jet around Moon's dark side\n  * Artemis II astronauts set to witness mysterious Moon feature in direct sunlight for first time\n  * Artemis II spacecraft's toilet BREAKS hours after launch as Nasa scrambles to find loo\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe team may even have experienced a repeat of a mysterious phenomenon last heard in 1969.\n\nAstronauts on Nasa's Apollo 10 mission said they heard mysterious \"music\" on the far side of the Moon.\n\nIn footage released just a few years ago, Eugene Cernan and John Young can be heard saying: \"You hear that? That whistling sound?\"\n\nAnother astronaut says: \"That sure is weird music.\"\n\nThe trio could hear an \"outer space-type\" droning noise when they travelled around the far side of the Moon - and said they were worried nobody would believe them.\n\nMichael Collins, the pilot of Apollo 11, said he also heard the noises when flying around the dark side of the Moon - but was told by engineers that it was just radio interference.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nDanish astronaut Per Wimmer told GB News on Monday the loss of contact was \"very simple\" to explain.\n\nThe spacecraft will be \"hiding\" behind the moon, so there will be no direct line of sight to Earth - and therefore radio communications \"simply cannot occur\", Mr Wimmer said.\n\n\"This is completely expected. We saw the same thing during Apollo 8. That is 40 minutes, 45 minutes of respite that the astronauts are going to get - and no doubt will be looking forward to.\"\n\nHe also pointed out that plans are in place to put satellites around the Moon.\n\nThese can effectively reflect the signals from a lunar capsule when it is unreachable on the Moon's far side - putting it back in constant contact with mission control.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Nasa loses contact with Artemis II capsule just hours after setting historic record"
}