Artemis II Daily
My account of a historic mission
Over the course of the Artemis II mission, I wrote daily updates providing context and explanations for what was going on. Here I’m collecting the entire series in one place.
If you know anybody who would still like to catch up with this mission, please share this with them.
Artemis II: Day One
Artemis II has launched into Earth orbit with its crew of four, ultimately bound for the first visit to the Moon since 1972. This is a historic mission, which has already caught the imagination of many people around the world who do not normally follow space missions. I will be publishing a daily update for the mission here, and I encourage readers to s…
Artemis II: Day Two
The crew of Artemis II have now departed for the Moon, after spending a day in Earth orbit checking out their spacecraft. Their trajectory is accurate enough that a planned mid-course correction has been cancelled.. It is now a matter of Newtonian certainty that
Artemis II: Day Three
The Orion capsule Integrity has been sent on its course around the Moon, the ultimate objective of the mission lies another two days ahead, and for now it is all about mastering interplanetary flight in this spacecraft.
Artemis II: Day Four
It won’t be long until the crew of Artemis II become the first humans to enter the Moon’s sphere of influence in 54 years - this is the area in which the Moon’s gravity is exerts more of a pull on the spacecraft than that of Earth. By any reasonable definition they will have reached the Moon at this point.
Artemis II: Day Five
The crew of Integrity are now counted amongst those who have visited the Moon, having passed into the Moons sphere of influence (where its gravity dominates over that of Earth). This is more of a mathematical boundary than a physical one, used in calculating orbit, but is still a good marker for having reached the Moon. As well as achieving that milestone, there have also been some emotional moments for the crew.
Artemis II: Day Six
Artemis II has now completed its flyby of the Moon and is heading home. The crew experienced a 40 minutes communications blackout as they passed behind the Moon, and witnessed the Earth set and rise.
Artemis II: Day Seven
Flight day 7 has been fairly uneventful; the crew talked to mission control to relay their experiences of the flyby, and had some time to rest after the big period of activity.
Artemis II: Day Eight
The crew spent today preparing the cabin for reentry. Originally, one of the main activities was to have been a full test of radiation shelter procedure; this was mostly skipped for time, with a reduced demonstration being performed instead to ensure that the shelter area could be properly ventilated with all four crew members inside.
Artemis II: Day Nine
The mission is nearly over; the Orion capsule Integrity is approaching Earth and the encounter with the atmosphere that will slow it down and hopefully bring the crew safely back to the surface.
Artemis II: Day Ten
The crew of the Orion capsule Integrity are safely back on Earth, bringing an end to the Artemis II mission. This flight has captured the public imagination in a way spaceflight rarely does. Who outside dedicated space nerds watches crew launches to the International Space Station?
I’m not a subscriber, but this is fantastic! All the people logging Artemis II happenings were/are doing good work. Such a historic feat for humanity, life, and our solar system!