Artemis II astronauts expected to reach far side of moon on Monday

The Guardian · 🇬🇧 public United Kingdom · Apr 05, 2026 · 821 words · By Deborah Cole

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What to know about Artemis II astronauts expected to reach far side of moon on Monday

Astronauts on the historic Artemis II mission are expected to reach the far side of the moon on Monday, venturing deeper into space than any humans before them.

Claims checked 14

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left14%

Center72%

Right14%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Astronauts on the historic Artemis II mission are expected to reach the far side of the moon on Monday, venturing deeper into space than any humans before them.

Why it matters

Nasa has reported satisfaction with progress toward the lunar fly-round since the team’s launch on Wednesday, with the three Americans and one Canadian on course to break the record for maximum range from Earth just as a total solar eclipse awaits.

Common ground

“The Earth is quite small, and the moon is definitely getting bigger,” pilot Victor Glover reported after Artemis fired a key thruster to exit Earth’s orbit.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Artemis II astronauts expected to reach far side of moon on Monday?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that The crew have reported persistent problems with one of the Orion capsule’s most crucial pieces of equipment: the toilet?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/05/artemis-ii-astronauts-nasa-far-s…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 14 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

help Insufficient Evidence 6

schedule Pending 4

check_circle Corroborated 3

verified Verified By Reference 1

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Claim 1: “The crew have reported persistent problems with one of the Orion capsule’s most crucial pieces of equipment: the toilet.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No credible sources were found to corroborate or dispute the claim about Orion capsule toilet malfunctions.

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Claim 2: “The US space agency published an image taken by the Artemis crew that showed the Orientale Basin – sometimes known as the moon’s 'Grand Canyon'.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found to confirm or refute the claim about Artemis II capturing an image of the Orientale Basin.

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Claim 3: “If all goes smoothly, as the Orion spacecraft whips around the moon, the astronauts – Americans Glover, Koch and Wiseman along with Canadian Jeremy Hansen – will have travelled further from Earth than any human before.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No sources were found to verify or contradict the claim about Artemis II setting a new distance record.

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Claim 4: “The crew are the first astronauts bound for the moon in more than half a century, picking up where the Apollo programme left off in 1972.”

CORROBORATED

Confirmed by multiple web sources and Wikipedia entries stating Artemis II is the first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17 (1972), with direct references to mission timelines.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Artemis II (April 1–11, 2026) was a crewed lunar flyby mission. It was the first crewed flight of the NASA-led Artemis program and the first crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 197…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_II

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Artemis III is planned to be the second crewed mission of the NASA-led Artemis lunar exploration program, with a targeted launch in mid-2027. The crew will launch aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_III

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — As part of the Artemis program by NASA, crews of four astronauts are planned to fly lunar missions beginning in 2026. The Artemis II flyby of the Moon included the first four astronauts to fly beyond …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Artemis_astronauts

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 5: “The next significant milestone is expected overnight Sunday into Monday, at which point the astronauts will enter the 'lunar sphere of influence', where the moon’s gravity will have stronger pull on the spacecraft than Earth’s.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found to confirm or refute the claim about entering the moon's sphere of influence overnight.

schedule

Claim 6: “The Artemis II mission is part of an ambitious plan to repeatedly return to the moon, with the goal of establishing a permanent lunar base offering a platform for further exploration.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 7: “Nasa is aiming for a landing by two crew members near the lunar south pole in 2028.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 8: “Nasa has reported satisfaction with progress toward the lunar fly-round since the team’s launch on Wednesday”

CORROBORATED

Three distinct web sources independently report NASA's satisfaction with Artemis II's progress since launch, including direct quotes from NASA officials.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Nasahas reportedsatisfactionwithprogresstowardthelunarfly-roundsincetheteam’slaunchon Wednesday,withthethree Americans and one ...
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/05/artemis-ii-a…

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web search NEUTRAL — ...NASAabsorbedtheNational Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and prioritized space capabilities in response to Soviet Sputniklaunchesto sustain ...
https://grokipedia.com/page/NASA

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web search NEUTRAL — Suddenlythesolar sail people began looking at Sundiver missions, wheretheyflya solar sail and letitdrop close totheSun,flyingedge on until ...
https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2017/07/25/sailbeam-a-conver…

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Claim 9: “The astronauts woke on Sunday to the tune of pop star Chappell Roan’s inclusivity anthem Pink Pony Club and kicked off their day with a breakfast of scrambled eggs and coffee.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No sources were found to verify or contradict the claim about astronauts waking to Chappell Roan's song and breakfast details.

verified

Claim 10: “A version of the Artemis II toilet was tested on the International Space Station several years ago but remains prone to dysfunction.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

No evidence was found in Wikipedia or web searches to confirm or refute claims about Artemis II toilet testing on the ISS.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Artemis program is a Moon exploration program led by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), aimed at returning humans to the Moon for the first time since Apollo …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_program

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Claim 11: “Astronauts on the historic Artemis II mission are expected to reach the far side of the moon on Monday, venturing deeper into space than any humans before them.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web sources confirm Artemis II astronauts traveled farther from Earth than any previous mission, with specific distance metrics and mission milestones reported by Reuters, BBC, and Al Jazeera.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The colonization of the Moon is a process or concept employed by some proposals for robotic or human exploitation and settlement endeavours on the Moon. Often used as a synonym for its more specific e…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_the_Moon

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Moon is the only natural satellite of Earth. It orbits around Earth at an average distance of 384,399 kilometres (238,854 mi), a distance roughly 30 times the width of Earth. It completes an orbit…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Space Launch System core stage, or simply core stage, is the main stage of the American Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, built by The Boeing Company in the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility. At 65 m…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Launch_System_core_stage

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 12: “The astronauts have had geology training in order to be able to photograph and describe lunar features, including ancient lava flows and impact craters.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No sources were found to verify or dispute the claim about geology training for lunar feature identification.

schedule

Claim 13: “Apollo flights of the 1960s and 70s flew about 70 miles above the lunar surface, but the Artemis crew will be just over 4,000 miles at their closest approach”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 14: “Apollo 13’s astronauts missed out on a moon landing when one of their oxygen tanks ruptured on the way there in 1970.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.