Latest News About Artemis 2 Far Side Moon

Direct answer: Artemis II has completed its far-side flyby of the Moon in early April 2026, with NASA reporting the first human-visible views of the Orientale basin and a notable solar eclipse as the spacecraft passed behind the Moon. The mission set a new record for the far side flyby distance and provided unprecedented imagery from the Orion spacecraft while suffering a temporary radio blackout during the closest approach.

Key updates you might care about

• Far-side observations: The crew captured high-quality imagery of the Orientale basin, marking the first time humans have seen that basin up close [CBS News: Artemis II crew capture new photo of far side of the moon; BBC News coverage of the crew’s first far-side glimpse]. These images offer a valuable comparative baseline for future planetary science [CBS News][Indiatoday].
• Distance and visibility milestones: Artemis II flew farther behind the Moon than any previous human mission, reaching several thousand miles beyond the lunar far side during the flyby, before returning to Earth on a free-return trajectory [Time magazine summary; BBC coverage].
• Communications blackout: A 40-minute radio blackout occurred while Orion was behind the Moon, a planned feature of the mission to allow lunar-side observations and to test deep-space comms resilience [Time magazine; Euronews summary].
• Solar eclipse view: The crew experienced a solar eclipse visible from their vantage point during the pass, a dramatic in-space event highlighted in mission briefings [Time magazine; TODAY/NBC coverage].

What this means for Artemis program

• Scientific value: Close-up views of the Orientale basin provide a rare opportunity to study lunar impact processes and crustal structure, informing future sample-return and landing targets [CBS News].
• Operational readiness: The mission validated Orion’s deep-space systems and communications architecture under far-side conditions, paving the way for future crewed lunar missions under Artemis [NBC/TODAY coverage].

Illustration (conceptual)

• The Orion spacecraft on a free-return arc behind the Moon, with the far side facing Earth, a 40-minute communications blackout, followed by re-emergence and Earth return. A first-ever human view of Orientale is captured as the spacecraft traverses the far side.

Note: If you’d like, I can pull the latest individual articles or pull a concise timeline of Artemis II’s key milestones with cited sources.