The Artemis II astronauts are bound for Earth after conducting a historic lunar fly-by and witnessing a total solar eclipse from their spacecraft
Commander Reid Wiseman says the Orion spacecraft crew "saw sights that no human has ever seen", while pilot Victor Glover says there are "no adjectives" to describe what they observed
The spacecraft reached its maximum distance from Earth - 252,756 miles (406,771km) - during the lunar fly-by. The crew had already broken the previous record for the furthest distance humans have travelled into space
The astronauts lost connection with Nasa while behind the Moon - the outage was expected and lasted around 40 minutes
"It is so great to hear from Earth again," said mission specialist Christina Koch as she broke the silence from the spacecraft
US President Donald Trump tells the astronauts that they have "made history and made all America really proud" - and invites them to the White House
The astronauts are due to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of the US at 20:07 eastern US time on Friday (01:07 BST Saturday)
The Orion spacecraft has completed its lunar fly-by, reaching the furthest distance travelled by humans from Earth at 252,756 miles (406,771 km).
The spacecraft is still about 244,200 miles (393,002 km) from Earth as of 09:30 BST, with the astronauts due to land in the Pacific Ocean at 20:07 eastern US time on 10 April (01:07 BST 11 April).
Once the crew arrive home, they will have travelled over 695,000 miles (1,118,494km) in total.
Rebecca Morelle
Science editor
Image source, Getty ImagesBuzz Aldrin stood beside a US flag on the Moon in 1969
After its history-making lunar landings, the Apollo programme was cancelled in 1972.
Costs had spiralled, priorities had changed, so attention shifted to a more budget-friendly destination: low-Earth orbit.
And that’s been the focus for Nasa the last 50 years, starting with Skylab, then the Space Shuttle programme, and more recently the International Space Station.
A return to the Moon was mooted in 2005 under Nasa’s Constellation programme, but it was cancelled in 2010 because of delays and cost over-runs.
However, the technology developed for Constellation - namely the Orion spacecraft and parts of the Constellation rockets - became incorporated into the Artemis programme, which formally began in 2017.
A Moon landing was originally planned for 2024, but with delays to both Artemis I and II, Nasa says the Artemis lunar landing will now happen by 2028.
Image source, NASAWe're still waiting for pics of the far side of the moon to be beamed back from the spacecraft - this one of the near side was taken yesterday
Alongside witnessing a total solar eclipse, Nasa's head of science Dr Nicola Fox says the Artemis II crew saw several “new, small craters” while observing the far side of the Moon.
Fox tells BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the craters appeared as “bright patches” and were visible to the naked eyes of the crew as a series of colours, including shades of brown and blue.
The astronauts also described the line dividing the sunlit and dark side of the Moon as a “jagged edge” due to the celestial body’s craters.
Image source, European Space AgencyIt is hoped the Artemis II mission will help to usher in a new era of space travel - and one of those hoping to be part of it is Dr Meganne Christian, a reserve astronaut with the European Space Agency.
The dual British national began training in January 2025 after being selected from thousands of applicants, getting a taste of the rigorous preparations the Artemis crew will have gone through for moments like losing contact with Earth.
She tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme the astronauts will have performed "simulation after simulation, knowing what's going to happen in any given moment - they were ready for it".
Asked about the importance of this mission, she says: "This is a test flight, preparing us for the future of exploration, preparing us for future landing sites... We are not just going to the moon, we are going there to stay."
There was a poignant moment onboard the capsule yesterday when conversation turned to proposing names for craters on the Moon to memorialise this record-breaking voyage.
One of the craters should be named Integrity after their Orion spacecraft, the crew agreed - while another should be named after astronaut Reid Wiseman's late wife Carroll who died in 2020.
The name proposals will need to be formally submitted to the International Astronomical Union,which governs the naming of features in space - but we suspect they'll be open to the suggestion.
Esme Stallard
Science reporter
We've just heard from the crew onboard the Orion spacecraft, who have bid goodnight to the teams on Earth after a day which saw them surpass a space-travel record.
Mission control tells the astronauts: "We got a sneak peek at your imagery. It is absolutely stunning, we are all completely in awe of the work you did today.
"Thank you so much for bringing us on this journey with you. We hope you have sweet dreams of Moon joy."
The crew replies: "We're glad they're appreciated. We certainly appreciate it up here."
Nasa's head of science Dr Nicola Fox says the Artemis II Moon mission is all about "doing the work to set up that sustained presence on the Moon".
Artemis IV, which is expected to launch in early 2028, will land humans on the Moon for the first time since 1972, Fox tells BBC Breakfast.
She says Nasa's ultimate goal is to have astronauts living and working there continuously, which will pave the way for the "next giant leap in exploration, to send crews to Mars".
Image source, Getty ImagesRetired Nasa astronaut Terry Virts, who was formerly commander of the International Space Station, says the crew of the shuttle had to allow gravity to take over in order to slingshot the moon.
He says: "They are in deep space with no way to be rescued, getting the harshest radiation that doesn't even exist on Earth, surrounded by instant death just a few millimetres outside of that thin aluminium shell.
"The entire 10-day mission is not exactly super safe but basically nothing happened today. The only thing that happened today was the moon flew by the capsule.
"They didn't do a manoeuvre - they allowed the moon's gravity to kind of bend the shape of their trajectory 180 degrees and bring them back to Earth.
"So it wasn't like they had to do a big complicated manoeuvre or docking or landing or anything like that.
"Sir Isaac Newton is in charge - gravity is what's manoeuvring the capsule now."
Esme Stallard
Science reporter
Image source, NASANow contact has successfully been remade with the Artemis II crew I am frantically refreshing the Nasa's photos stream, which will bring us all the images they took while observing the far side of the Moon.
Both the record distance, illumination levels and particular orbit means that the crew have seen sights that no human has ever laid their eyes on.
They have digital cameras with them which they are using to capture the sights - but it is what they saw from the spacecraft that has many scientists back on Earth most excited.
Both China and India have sent probes over this side in the last few years to capture images - so is having humans see it for themselves exciting from a scientific point of view, or purely in terms of human exploration?
Chris Lintott, professor of astrophysics at the University of Oxford and co-host of BBC's series The Sky at Night, told my colleague Georgina Rannard: "The value of the images coming back from Artemis and its crew is artistic, not scientific."
And yet, ask any former geology student like me and you are still trained to make observations and sketches with the human eye. Science puts great store by our own inbuilt cameras.
Abbie MacKinnon, curator of the Science Museum's space gallery, says: "I know we have... satellite imagery and everything like that. It's just not the same as humans there deciding what images to take and what looks good."
Watch: Artemis II mission loses contact with Earth for 40 minutes
It has been a historic day for the Artemis II crew, who are now bound for Earth after completing a fly-by of the Moon. Here's what has happened over the past few hours:
Rebecca Morelle
Science editor
We spoke to Nasa's head of science Dr Nicola Fox after the fly-by.
She said it had been an amazing - and very busy - day for the science team here at mission control.
The astronauts have spent years preparing for this part of the mission, studying lunar science with the team here - and Fox said the crew had aced their test, providing fantastic lunar observations.
As a solar scientist, she was particularly excited about the eclipse.
She's gazed at many of these celestial events, but said this one, with such an unusual vantage point, looked very different from any she'd seen on Earth.
There was much anticipation during the 40 minutes when Orion was not able to contact Earth.
After the Artemis crew returned from the far side of the moon, mission specialist Christina Koch broke the silence.
Here is what Koch said:
"Houston, Integrity, comm check.
It is so great to hear from Earth again...
To Asia, Africa and Oceana, we are looking back at you, we hear you can look up and see the moon right now. We see you too.
When we burned this bird towards the moon, I said that we do not leave Earth, but we choose it and that is true.
We will explore, we will build, we will build ships, we will visit again.
We will construct science outposts. We will drive rovers, we will do radio astronomy, we will found companies, we will bolster industry.
We will inspire but ultimately we will always choose Earth.
We will always choose each other."
After travelling a record-breaking 252,756 miles (406,771km) from Earth and circling past the moon, the Artemis II astronauts are on their way home.
It will take them about four days to journey back, with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of the US expected at 20:07 eastern US time 10 April (01:07 BST 11 April).
Teams will collect the astronauts from the water in helicopters and take them to the a nearby US Navy ship.
They will have medical checks aboard the ship as they head back towards land, Nasa says.
Image source, NASAUS President Donald Trump had a short conversation with the four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft. As a microphone floated in front of the astronauts on their journey back to Earth, Trump praised the crew for their achievements.
Before the call ended, Trump said he will be seeing the Artemis crew at the White House once the mission is complete.
"I've been pretty busy also, as you know, but I will absolutely find the time," Trump said, before adding he would like to give "a big salute on behalf of the American people and beyond that".
"Thank you for that, Mr President," pilot Victor Glover replied.
Trump continues with questions, asking the crew: "What is the most unforgettable part of this really historic day?"
Commander Reid Wiseman was the first to respond, and starts by saying that the call from the president was "certainly very special to all of us".
"We saw sights that no human has ever seen, not even Apollo, and that was amazing for us," said Wiseman.
He went on to explain the crew's observations of the solar eclipse, and said all four of the crew had commented on how "excited we are to watch this nation and this planet become a two-planet species" in reference to goals of future ventures to Mars.
Trump asks the Artemis crew: "What was your feeling when you had no communication all of a sudden?"
Astronaut Victor Glover answers by saying he said "a little prayer" but then had to keep working to record scientific observations of the far side of the moon.
"We were busy up here and working really hard, and I must say it was actually quite nice," Glover adds.
Trump continues and says: "Humans have really never seen anything quite like what you're doing."
"It's really special."
He then congratulates each crew member of the Artemis crew and the entire team at Nasa.
US President Donald Trump is speaking directly to the crew aboard Artemis II in a surprise appearance.
"Today, you've made history and made all America really proud, incredibly proud," he tells the four astronauts.
"We have a lot of things to be proud of lately, but this is... there's nothing like what you're doing, circling around the moon for the first time in more than a half century, and breaking the all time record for the farthest distance from planet Earth."
Image source, NASA