The four-person Artemis II crew reached out to colleagues aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday during their journey back to Earth, creating a historic moment in space communications.
This radio conversation marked the first time astronauts traveling to or from the moon have spoken with crew members on a space station. During the Apollo era of the 1960s and 1970s, when humans last ventured into deep space, no orbital outposts existed for such communications.
The call brought together Christina Koch from the Artemis II mission and Jessica Meir stationed on the space laboratory, reuniting the duo who made history in 2019 by completing the first spacewalk conducted entirely by women. Despite being separated by 230,000 miles, the astronauts shared a celebratory conversation.
Mission Control in Houston facilitated the extraordinary exchange between the four lunar voyagers and the space station’s current residents – three American astronauts and one French crew member.
Commander Reid Wiseman continued sharing photographs from Monday’s lunar encounter on Tuesday morning, including images from their record-breaking distance achievement. Among the standout photos was a stunning view of Earth setting behind the lunar horizon, echoing the famous Earthrise image captured during Apollo 8 in 1968.
Wiseman’s team represents the first humans to travel to lunar vicinity since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. They’re scheduled to complete their nearly 10-day demonstration flight with an ocean landing near San Diego on Friday.
This successful mission paves the way for Artemis III next year, which will test lunar lander docking procedures in Earth orbit. The program will culminate with Artemis IV in 2028, when two crew members plan to touch down near the moon’s south pole.
