NASA
Solar eclipse of April 6, 2026 visible to astronauts on the Artemis II mission, due to its privileged position
During the historic lunar flyby, astronauts on NASA’s Artemis II mission witnessed meteorites hitting the Moon’s rugged surface, in a sight that piqued scientists’ curiosity.
“These were definitely impact flashes on the Moon. Jeremy Hansen just saw another one.”reported the mission commander.
Aquilo to what Reid Wiseman was referring to, as the mission flew around the Moon, they were meteorites hitting the Moon.
“Surprising,” replied Kelsey Youngthe mission’s lunar science officer, as she accompanied the spacecraft more than 250,000 miles away on Earth.
“I don’t know if I expected the crew to see any on this mission, so they probably saw the surprise and shock on my face,” Young added at a press conference the next day.
The team reported a total of six meteorite impacts on the lunar surface.
The official added that the most observations occurred during the eclipse solar – when the Moon passed in front of the Sun.
Among the NASA team in Houston were “audible screams of enthusiasm” by scientists when the crew described flashes of light caused by meteorite impacts.
Young questioned the astronauts about meteorite impacts: “Were they prolonged? And did you notice any color?” Young asked.
“It’s a tiny point of light”replied Hansen. “I suspect there were many more,” he added, quoted by AFP.
“I would say that lasted a millisecondlike the fastest a camera shutter can open and close,” added Wiseman, who said flashes were “white to bluish-white”.
As highlighted by , teams on the ground are now working to cross-reference these observations with data from a satellite in orbit around the Moon.
