GoKawiilView of the Moon from the Orion capsule as the crew set the record for the farthest distance humans have travelled from Earth.Credit: NASA
Updated 6 April 2026, 2.16 p.m. CDT (Houston time)
This morning, reporters — including yours truly — visited mission control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. This is the nerve centre of the Artemis II mission. And it’s the room where the flight director and the capcom (the astronaut designated to communicate with the Orion capsule) sit, as well as the room that holds all those consoles you’ve seen in film documentaries. Huge display screens showed the countdown to various mission milestones, including splashdown on 10 April.
We were there when mission control broadcast a message from legendary Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell to the Artemis II crew, as they woke this morning, the day of their lunar fly-by. “Welcome to my old neighbourhood,” said Lovell, who piloted the 1968 Apollo 8 mission that was the first to fly humans around the Moon, just as Artemis II is doing today. “Don’t forget to enjoy the view,” he said. “Good luck, godspeed, from all of us here on the good Earth.” Lovell recorded the message before he died on 7 August this year. — Alexandra Witze
NASA staff members were posing for a photo this morning as Nature correspondent Alexandra Witze visited mission control.Credit: Alexandra Witze/Nature
Updated 6 April 2026, 2.07 p.m. CDT (Houston time)
As the Artemis II crew set their distance record from Earth, they made a request: to name some “relatively fresh craters on the Moon that have not been previously named”. In particular, they suggested names for two craters that they observed from Orion’s windows this morning and that were originally pointed out to them by the science team. They suggested naming the first, north of the massive Orientale basin on the Moon’s far side, Integrity, after their spacecraft. The second, on the Moon’s near side–far side border, they asked to name Carroll, after commander Reid Wiseman’s wife, who passed away in 2020. During certain times of transit, Carroll would be visible on Earth.
To see astronaut Reid Wiseman request names for two craters on the Moon, including one to be named after his late wife, watch this moment in NASA’s livestream.
Updated 6 April 2026, 1.51 p.m. CDT (Houston time)
The lunar fly-by has begun. I'm in the science evaluation room for the Artemis II mission, where flowers just got delivered for science officer Kelsey Young, from her mother. NASA science head Nicola Fox is also in the house.
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