A crescent Earth as seen from the Artemis II Orion Integrity spacecraft, now over 46,000 km away.
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@AkaSci I don’t understand how NASA can spend billions on their flagship mission and not have better camera feeds. Why not put a Starlink on Orion? This is their biggest PR event, and we were stuck mainly with renders during launch.
@michaelgemar
Artemis II is also carrying an Optical Communication System, which will use lasers to communicate with earth, at very high data rates.I have not read much about, yet. That should bring us some high-res video from the vicinity of the moon.
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A crescent Earth as seen from the Artemis II Orion Integrity spacecraft, now over 46,000 km away. The spacecraft is located above the north-east coast of Brazil, where it is night-time
22/n
@AkaSci somehow Trump didn't manage to get his name on it.
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Check out this dashboard for real-time status and telemetry from Artemis II.
h/t @cdnspace
https://fosstodon.org/@cdnspace@mstdn.ca/116336006900298832
27/nCubesats deployed by Artemis II in High Earth Orbit:
TACHELES, German Space Agency: Effects of space env on electrical components.
K-RadCube, Korea AeroSpace Admin: Space radiation and its biological effects
Space Weather CubeSat-1, Saudi Space Agency: Space weather at a range of distances from Earth
ATENEA, Argentina's Space Agency; Assess radiation shielding methods, measure Earth's radiation spectrum, collect GPS data and validate a long-range comm link
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6197&context=smallsat
28/n -
Cubesats deployed by Artemis II in High Earth Orbit:
TACHELES, German Space Agency: Effects of space env on electrical components.
K-RadCube, Korea AeroSpace Admin: Space radiation and its biological effects
Space Weather CubeSat-1, Saudi Space Agency: Space weather at a range of distances from Earth
ATENEA, Argentina's Space Agency; Assess radiation shielding methods, measure Earth's radiation spectrum, collect GPS data and validate a long-range comm link
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6197&context=smallsat
28/nArtemis II Trans Lunar Injection (TLI) burn coming up at 7:49 p.m. EDT.
The 349-second burn will increase Integrity's speed of ~11,000 m/s by 388 m/s and stretch the current 191x70,133 km elliptical orbit to go ~7,400 km beyond the moon and return back to earth.
A few minor burns will be made during the trip to fine-tune the trajectory.
The graphic below shows the approx. location of Integrity and the moon - now, during TLI and around April 6-8.
Go #Artemis2!
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Artemis II Trans Lunar Injection (TLI) burn coming up at 7:49 p.m. EDT.
The 349-second burn will increase Integrity's speed of ~11,000 m/s by 388 m/s and stretch the current 191x70,133 km elliptical orbit to go ~7,400 km beyond the moon and return back to earth.
A few minor burns will be made during the trip to fine-tune the trajectory.
The graphic below shows the approx. location of Integrity and the moon - now, during TLI and around April 6-8.
Go #Artemis2!
One might consider it foolhardy for Artemis II Orion to come screaming down at 11 km/s to 191 km altitude, cross the paths of the LEO constellations and debris around 500 km, perform the TLI to adjust its speed and trajectory and race away, without colliding with anything.
But we can be assured that all that is taken care of and LEO satellites will maneuver to get out of the way as needed.
https://satellitetracker3d.com/track?norad-id=27426
30/n -
One might consider it foolhardy for Artemis II Orion to come screaming down at 11 km/s to 191 km altitude, cross the paths of the LEO constellations and debris around 500 km, perform the TLI to adjust its speed and trajectory and race away, without colliding with anything.
But we can be assured that all that is taken care of and LEO satellites will maneuver to get out of the way as needed.
https://satellitetracker3d.com/track?norad-id=27426
30/nArtemis II TLI complete. All systems good.
Here is a view of Earth from the spacecraft at altitude ~200 km during the TLI.
Integrity and the 4 astronauts are now headed for the moon.
Current orbit is 202x501,181 km, but the actual values will be slightly smaller due to gravitational interaction with the moon.
31/n -
One might consider it foolhardy for Artemis II Orion to come screaming down at 11 km/s to 191 km altitude, cross the paths of the LEO constellations and debris around 500 km, perform the TLI to adjust its speed and trajectory and race away, without colliding with anything.
But we can be assured that all that is taken care of and LEO satellites will maneuver to get out of the way as needed.
https://satellitetracker3d.com/track?norad-id=27426
30/n@AkaSci holy crap
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Artemis II TLI complete. All systems good.
Here is a view of Earth from the spacecraft at altitude ~200 km during the TLI.
Integrity and the 4 astronauts are now headed for the moon.
Current orbit is 202x501,181 km, but the actual values will be slightly smaller due to gravitational interaction with the moon.
31/nIt's lonely out there
Artemis II Orion is now 33,668 km away, traveling at 15,347 km/h, approaching geo-sync orbit, as Earth recedes in the dark distance, while the Moon beckons.
Astronauts have plenty of work and activities to keep them busy during the mission. Live media event with the astronauts coming up soon.
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Artemis II TLI complete. All systems good.
Here is a view of Earth from the spacecraft at altitude ~200 km during the TLI.
Integrity and the 4 astronauts are now headed for the moon.
Current orbit is 202x501,181 km, but the actual values will be slightly smaller due to gravitational interaction with the moon.
31/n@AkaSci I was ten years old when Apollo 8 orbited the Moon in 1968. 58 years ago. I watched every bit of it I could, all in memory at least narrated by Walter Cronkite. I didn't expect to get emotional about Artemis; at this point I don't think human space exploration is a...priority, as we humans in the interval between have done our best to be a pestilence all across the face of the Earth, but as I read that Artemis with 4 astronauts is headed to the moon, tears come to my eyes.
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It's lonely out there
Artemis II Orion is now 33,668 km away, traveling at 15,347 km/h, approaching geo-sync orbit, as Earth recedes in the dark distance, while the Moon beckons.
Astronauts have plenty of work and activities to keep them busy during the mission. Live media event with the astronauts coming up soon.
Artemis II astronauts are preparing to do a public event in the next few minutes where they will speak directly with media.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3kR2KK8TEs
33/n -
It's lonely out there
Artemis II Orion is now 33,668 km away, traveling at 15,347 km/h, approaching geo-sync orbit, as Earth recedes in the dark distance, while the Moon beckons.
Astronauts have plenty of work and activities to keep them busy during the mission. Live media event with the astronauts coming up soon.
@AkaSci Given how big a crescent the Earth was yesterday from twice the distance I reckon that the small bright thing is rather the (full) Moon they're heading for.
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Artemis II astronauts are preparing to do a public event in the next few minutes where they will speak directly with media.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3kR2KK8TEs
33/nImmersive 360° view video of the launch of the Artemis II mission.
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@AkaSci Given how big a crescent the Earth was yesterday from twice the distance I reckon that the small bright thing is rather the (full) Moon they're heading for.
@cosmos4u
Thanks for the heads up and your sharp mind. -
A crescent Earth as seen from the Artemis II Orion Integrity spacecraft, now over 46,000 km away. The spacecraft is located above the north-east coast of Brazil, where it is night-time
22/n
@AkaSci
At the heart of the mission is ESA's European Service Module, which powers, propels and sustains the Orion spacecraft
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One might consider it foolhardy for Artemis II Orion to come screaming down at 11 km/s to 191 km altitude, cross the paths of the LEO constellations and debris around 500 km, perform the TLI to adjust its speed and trajectory and race away, without colliding with anything.
But we can be assured that all that is taken care of and LEO satellites will maneuver to get out of the way as needed.
https://satellitetracker3d.com/track?norad-id=27426
30/n@AkaSci TBH I don't like this kind of visualization because it suggests that the debris has the size of a city like Rio de Janeiro... AFAIK the majority is extremely small or small (nonetheless it is still dangerous because of it's kinetic energy). But such a visualization is IMHO a bit misleading.
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Artemis II has a total of 28 camera systems, many for internal and external inspection and navigation, 4 located on each of Orion’s 4 solar arrays.
The fixed engineering cameras are primarily meant for in-flight inspection of the spacecraft. But they also opportunistically capture images of Earth and the moon in the background.
The astronauts carry two handheld Nikon D5 digital SLR 20.8 MP cameras for hi-res images and videos.
https://talkoftitusville.com/2025/12/24/what-cameras-will-the-artemis-ii-astronauts-have-aboard/
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20230017638/downloads/1325_Melendrez_Orion%20Imaging%20Capabilities.pdf
26/n@AkaSci I didn't think anyone was creating diagrams like this any more... What a beautiful thing!
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@DavidPenington
118 x 70134 km before this perigee raise burn around 8 a.m. April 2.-2 x 70385 km before the burn around 11:20 p.m. EDT April 1.
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Immersive 360° view video of the launch of the Artemis II mission.
The 20-minute event last night where Artemis II astronauts spoke from space, answered questions and eloquently described their experience so far and the importance of this historic mission.
Inspiring!
Go #Artemis2 -
The 20-minute event last night where Artemis II astronauts spoke from space, answered questions and eloquently described their experience so far and the importance of this historic mission.
Inspiring!
Go #Artemis2A magnificent view of a serene blue Earth taken yesterday by NASA astronaut and Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman from one of the Orion spacecraft's four main windows while approaching Earth 5 hours before the translunar injection. The Sun is to the right in the image.
Camera: NIKON D5 (DSLR, 20.8 MP)
LensInfo: 35mm f/2
ISO 250
ExposureTime: 1/250 s
CreateDate: 2026:04:02 18:53:12 UTC
Distance: 51,800 kmImage and EXIF data at https://images.nasa.gov/details/art002e000191
36/n -
A magnificent view of a serene blue Earth taken yesterday by NASA astronaut and Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman from one of the Orion spacecraft's four main windows while approaching Earth 5 hours before the translunar injection. The Sun is to the right in the image.
Camera: NIKON D5 (DSLR, 20.8 MP)
LensInfo: 35mm f/2
ISO 250
ExposureTime: 1/250 s
CreateDate: 2026:04:02 18:53:12 UTC
Distance: 51,800 kmImage and EXIF data at https://images.nasa.gov/details/art002e000191
36/n@AkaSci These photos being seen today from Mission Commander Wiseman's camera will be from the time when Specialist Hansen's conversation with CapCom was basically, "yeah, we'll get to that soon, but right now we can't pry Reid off the windows".
Those very human moments and emotions are my favourite parts of the mission so far.
