Humanity is about to get its first in-person, up-close look at the Moon in more than half a century.
Four astronauts will spend about seven hours on Monday observing the far side of the Moon, the half that constantly points away from Earth. At their closest approach on board their Orion spacecraft Integrity, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch of NASA and Jeremy Hansen with the Canadian Space Agency will be about 4,000 miles (6,400 km) above the surface. The last time any person came that close was during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
You can tune into the webcast here, starting at 1 pm ET.
This is an exciting moment for space exploration! It’s fascinating to think about getting a closer look at the Moon after so long. Even low-resolution video will surely offer some amazing insights. Looking forward to seeing the results!