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Artemis astronauts glimpse Moon's 'Grand Canyon' ahead of historic lunar flyby
NASA says the crew’s images show the Orientale basin for the first time with human eyes, and the astronauts could set a distance record.
- On Sunday, April 5, 2026, the Artemis II crew—Americans Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman, and Victor Glover, and Canadian Jeremy Hansen—approached the lunar sphere of influence, traveling nearly 200,000 miles from Earth and 82,000 miles from the Moon.
- Astronauts captured unprecedented images of the Moon's far side, including the Orientale basin, which NASA noted marks the first time the entire feature has been seen with human eyes.
- Commander Reid Wiseman told Houston's Mission Control that "morale is high on board," while mission specialist Christina Koch described the basin, sometimes known as the Moon's "Grand Canyon," as "very distinctive."
- NASA confirmed the crew completed a manual piloting demonstration and reviewed their lunar flyby plan, analyzing surface features from just over 4,000 miles at their closest approach.
- Positioned to set a record by venturing farther from Earth than any human before, the mission serves as a critical step toward establishing a permanent lunar base and returning to the Moon.
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Astronauts of the Miss Artemis 2 have never seen moon landscapes before human eyes, reported crews on this Sunday (5). The honorary sword Orion crossed the mark of two of them from the rough track to the moonlight this afternoon (6). Read more (04/05/2026).
·São Paulo, Brazil
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Total News Sources31
Leaning Left5Leaning Right4Center13Last UpdatedBias Distribution59% Center
Bias Distribution
- 59% of the sources are Center
59% Center
L 23%
C 59%
R 18%
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