NASA Will Lose All Contact With the Moon Crew Monday Night. Here's What Happens Next.
At 6:47 p.m. ET on Monday, April 6, NASA's Mission Control will say something to the Artemis II crew — and then hear nothing back.
For approximately 40 minutes, the four astronauts aboard NASA's Orion spacecraft will pass behind the Moon, out of reach of every antenna and tracking station on Earth. Space silence.
What Happens During the Artemis II Blackout
The blackout isn't an emergency, it's merely physics. The Moon itself blocks radio signals between Earth and the spacecraft as Orion passes behind it, the same way a wall blocks a phone call. Mission Control has known this was coming since before launch and has planned around it.
But knowing it's coming doesn't make it less extraordinary. During those 40 minutes of silence, the Artemis II crew will accomplish two of the mission's most significant milestones entirely on their own. At 7:02 p.m., the crew makes their closest approach to the Moon, passing within 4,066 miles of the lunar surface. At 7:05 p.m. — still behind the Moon, still unreachable — they will surpass the record set by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970, becoming the humans who have traveled farther from Earth than anyone in history. That moment will happen in complete silence from Mission Control's perspective.
Communication is expected to be restored at 7:27 p.m. ET.
Thanks to our @NASAArtemis II astronauts for working on the weekend!
— NASA (@NASA) April 5, 2026
The fourth day of their mission brought more crew preparations for Monday's trip around the Moon and stunning new images from their vantage point. What views are you most excited to see? pic.twitter.com/CFmFYQRmYT
What the Artemis II Crew Is Doing
The astronauts are not simply waiting out the blackout. The lunar flyby includes a seven-hour observation period beginning at 2:45 p.m. ET, during which the crew will observe both the near and far sides of the Moon in pairs, rotating every 55 to 85 minutes. At the moment of their closest approach — during the blackout — they may be the first humans to see parts of the Moon's far side (the colloquial "dark side of the moon") with the unaided eye.
From that distance, the Moon will appear roughly the size of a basketball held at arm's length. Earth, by comparison, will be a small, distant object behind them, 252,757 miles away.
How to Watch the Lunar Flyby on Monday
NASA's live coverage of the lunar flyby runs from 1 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. ET on Monday on the agency's YouTube channel. The communication blackout begins at 6:47 p.m. — which means viewers watching the live stream will experience the same silence Mission Control does. When the signal returns at 7:27 p.m., the crew will have already made history.
You can track the spacecraft's exact position in real time at nasa.gov/trackartemis.
Artemis II is scheduled to splashdown off the coast of San Diego at approximately 8:07 p.m. ET on Friday, April 10.