NASA launched four astronauts aboard the Artemis II mission on Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Center, sending them on a historic 10-day journey around the Moon. The astronauts are now adjusting to life inside their small spacecraft, sharing how they sleep and work.
Astronauts are sleeping like bats
With only 330 cubic feet of space for four people and they had to get creative to find places to sleep. Mission commander Reid Wiseman told ABC News that the crew has only managed a few short naps in their first 30 hours in space that too in some unusual spots.
“Christina has been sleeping heads down in the middle of the vehicle, kind of like a bat suspended from our docking tunnel,” Wiseman said.
“Victor has a nice little nook wedged in there. And then Jeremy has been stretched out on seat one, and I’ve been sleeping under the displays, just in case anything goes wrong.”
Pilot Victor Glover also shared his experience, according to the BBC. “It’s comical… but more comfortable than you would think. It’s nice to sleep with weightlessness again,” he said.
Toilet trouble in space
The launch went smoothly but the crew did face a small problem with the toilet early in the mission. Christina Koch took charge of fixing it.
“I like to say that the plunger is the most important piece of equipment in space,” Koch said with a laugh, per the BBC.
“It was a priming issue. Luckily we’re all systems go.”
The windows also got dirty after the crew spent a lot of time taking photos and they were told to clean them using water and a dry wipe.
Despite all these little problems, they also shared a powerful moment when they looked back at Earth. Wiseman described it during an interview with ABC News.
“There was a moment about an hour ago where Mission Control Houston reoriented our spacecraft as the sun was setting behind the Earth,” he said.
“And I don’t know what we all expected to see at that moment, but you could see the entire globe, from pole to pole. You could see Africa, Europe, and if you looked really close, you could see the northern lights. It was the most spectacular moment, and it paused all four of us in our tracks,” he added.
When will astronauts return to Earth?
NASA’s Artemis 2 crew is expected to return to Earth on April 10, 2026 after their 10-day trip around the Moon.
The return will be one of the most intense parts of the mission. The Orion spacecraft will reenter Earth’s atmosphere at about 25,000 miles per hour (40,000 km/h), making it the fastest reentry ever for a crewed spacecraft.
After that, parachutes will open to slow the capsule down before it lands in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego at around 8:06pm EDT. US Navy recovery teams will also be there to pick up the astronauts.
