40 minutes without contact: The mission Artemis's most critical moment

NASA will lose contact with astronauts for about 40 minutes, while their ship passes after the moon one of the most tense moments of the entire mission.

The crew of the Artemis II mission is in the final phase of approaching the moon, ahead of a flight around it expected to break the record for the greatest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth.

During this mission, astronauts are taking pictures and videos of the moon and recording scientific observations. But in 40 minutes, the moon's surface will block radio signals, disrupting any communication with Earth.

This will create a “bockout” communication period during which the crew cannot ask for help if any problems occur.

The mission pilot, Victor Glover, has described this moment as a possibility of reflection: a time to hope and believe everything will be fine until the return of contact.

This journey of some 1.1 million miles [1.1 million km] round- round is the first mission that sends people to the moon after more than 50 years. The Orion capsule is currently located some 51,000 miles from the lunar surface.

The mission is expected to break the record set by Apollo 13 in 1970, reaching over 406 thousand miles from Earth.

During the flight, the crew will spend about seven hours observing the moon, looking closely at both the visible and the invisible side. Because of limited space, astronauts will be divided into groups to conduct successive observations.

The most critical moment is expected when the capsule is passed after the moon and communication is fully interrupted. At this stage, astronauts will be closer to the moon than ever during the mission.

However, the mission's leaders are confident that everything is under control. They point out that the capsule will not use motors to return but will rely on the moon's gravity to return to the Earth.

After about 40 minutes, communication is expected to return and the mission continues normally. Next, the crew will continue their surveillance and send data and images to Earth.

The mission has so far moved largely without problems, except for some small technical issues that have already been resolved.

After the flight was completed around the moon, the capsule will begin returning to the Earth, a journey that will take about four days. During this time, astronauts will conduct significant security tests, including protection from solar radiation.

In the final phase, the capsule will enter the atmosphere at very high speed and land in the Pacific Ocean.

This mission aims to pave the way for a new landing on the moon in 2028, which would be the first time people have returned to the lunar surface since 1972.