Artemis II commander feared crew lost in space after flying too far

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 19 Oct, 11:57 · Archive

Reid Wiseman, commander of Artemis II, feared his crew would never return home after their distance from Earth continued increasing beyond the planned maximum.

Reid Wiseman, commander of the Artemis II mission, feared he and his three crew members would never return home when their distance from Earth continued to increase beyond the planned maximum during their lunar flyby.

As the crew flew around the Moon, Mission Control in Houston had informed them their furthest point would be 219,667 nautical miles from Earth. When the distance readout hit that figure, Wiseman expected the next number to show them heading back. But approximately three minutes later, the counter showed 219,668 nautical miles, and then 219,669.

Speaking at the Starmus Festival in Tenerife, Wiseman said: 'That was the moment that I felt real fear because I thought we had just gone too far. We're never going to come home, and so I was very scared.' After another three-minute wait, the distance readout finally began decreasing, confirming they were on their way back to Earth. The Artemis II mission set a new record for the furthest distance travelled by humans, surpassing the Apollo 13 mission's previous record from 1970.

How it is being reported

• Nasa’s Artemis astronaut feared they would never get home as they flew around the MoonReid Wiseman, who led the first trip back to the Moon in 50 years, feared that his crew would drift into spaceIndependent Tech · 19 Oct, 11:40
• Artemis II astronaut reveals he feared his crew would be lost in space 'after straying too far from Earth'As Commander Reid Wiseman and his three crew flew over the dark side of the Moon to what NASA had said would be their maximum distance, their odometer continued ticking upwards.Daily Mail · 19 Oct, 01:55

In this story: Reid Wiseman · Artemis II · NASA · Mission Control Houston · Moon · Earth · Starmus Festival · Tenerife

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