The commander of the Artemis 2 mission, Reid Wiseman, experienced several minutes of genuine fear during the historic crewed flight around the Moon. On the sixth day of the mission, the astronaut noticed that the Orion capsule continued to move away from Earth even after reaching the planned maximum distance.
For a moment, he worried that the crew might never be able to return home. Wiseman shared this episode during the Starmus VIII festival, which took place this week in Tenerife, Spain.
According to the astronaut, the crew was informed that the maximum distance from Earth would be 219,667 nautical miles, equivalent to approximately 406,823 kilometers. The commander monitored the spacecraft's distance indicator, called Integrity.
When the reading reached the set limit, he expected the value to start decreasing, signaling the return. However, the counter began to rise again. 'I was looking at this number and saw it reach 219,667. I thought, 'Great, this will be the farthest we are from Earth, and the next number I see will be 219,666—we are going home',' said Wiseman.
Approximately three minutes later, the indicator showed 219,668 nautical miles. The astronaut found this situation strange, but the number kept increasing. 'About three minutes later, it reached 219,669. It was at that moment that I felt real fear because I thought we had gone too far—we would never come home. I was very scared,' he recounted.
The fear was brief but intense. Finally, Wiseman realized that the counter had started to decrease. When the indicator once again showed 219,668 nautical miles, he announced to his colleagues, 'We are coming home.' The crew celebrated the change.
'I knew we had a good chance,' the commander added. While Wiseman monitored the indicator, other astronauts were occupied with their tasks. Victor Glover and Christina Koch observed the Moon from the capsule's viewport, while Canadian Jeremy Hansen relayed information to the mission control team. Therefore, the commander's moment of anxiety went unnoticed by his colleagues.