Retired NASA astronaut Clayton Anderson said the Artemis II crew is more than halfway to the moon, with excitement building as they close in on lunar orbit after completing their final major burn.
Anderson, who flew to the International Space Station and wrote "The Ordinary Spaceman," appeared Saturday on Newsmax TV's "America Right Now" to discuss the mission, which launched Wednesday and represents the first crewed flight toward the moon in more than 50 years.
"I think they're more than halfway there, approaching the moon every second. Closer and closer, it gets bigger and bigger in their windows," Anderson said.
He added that the crew is likely "testing out systems and equipment and playing around and learning how to live and work in that very compact environment in space."
NASA's Artemis II mission, which launched on April 1, 2026, from Kennedy Space Center with NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen, aboard the Orion spacecraft named Integrity, continues to perform well on its outbound journey toward the Moon.
Following a successful translunar injection burn on April 2 that sent the crew out of Earth orbit for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972, the spacecraft is on track for a planned lunar flyby on Monday, April 6.
NASA officials report the crew is in great spirits, systems are operating nominally overall (with a minor helium pressurization issue in the propulsion system resolved by switching to a backup), and no major trajectory correction was needed after the precise burn.
Their excitement is growing by the hour as they prepare to see a view that very few humans have seen up close, he said.
The crew has now committed to its trajectory for lunar orbit and the eventual return to Earth. Anderson noted the entire test flight carries risk, with particular attention on the heat shield.
"They're going to come flying back a lot faster than the shuttle used to reenter. And so the heat that's generated on that heat shield is going to be important to be ablated away from the craft," he said. "I'm hoping my fingers are crossed that that will work as it's advertised."
Anderson pointed out that NASA made a slight adjustment to the return trajectory to address heat shield concerns from the uncrewed Artemis I test. "In this day and age of spaceflight, every aspect of it is risky," he added.
The 10-day test flight remains on schedule for a return to Earth around April 10.
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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