Artemis II successfully flies by Moon's far side
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 7 April 2026
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Artemis II astronauts are bound for a return to Earth after conducting a historic lunar fly-by and witnessing a total solar eclipse from their spacecraft.
The spacecraft reached its maximum distance from Earth - 252,756 miles (406,771km), the furthest distance humans have travelled into space. We'll hear from NASA's Head of Science.
Also in the programme: Multiple reports indicate new US strikes on Kharg Island in the Gulf as President Trump posts that "a whole civilisation will die tonight" unless a deal is reached; US vice-president JD Vance visits Hungary ahead of elections; Cambodia says it's cracking down on scammers; and Kanye West has been blocked from travelling to the UK over anti-Semitic comments.
(Photo shows the Moon rises over the Halde Hoheward near Herten, Germany on 7 April 2026. Credit: Christopher Neundorf/EPA)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:08.9 | Hello and welcome to NewsHour, live from the BBC World Service in London. I'm Rebecca Kesbby. |
| 0:15.4 | Coming up on the programme today, we're getting reports that the terminal for much of Iran's oil exports on Khaargyland |
| 0:23.0 | has been hit by several US strikes within the past hour or so. |
| 0:28.1 | The Iranian state news agency and multiple US media outlets are reporting that. |
| 0:33.9 | We're keeping a close eye on events and will bring you the latest. President Trump has also been posting new threats on social media in the past few minutes, including saying that a whole civilization will die tonight unless Iran agrees to a deal. We'll have more on that to come. Also this half hour, the English football fan who's now watched a match at every league and non-league venue in the country. |
| 0:59.9 | I've been to 5,805 football matches and that includes 2,68 different football grounds, |
| 1:08.1 | which embraces the entire National League system because I did the last |
| 1:12.0 | non-league round on Easter Monday at Forward Amateurs. More on that to come. But first, to some historic |
| 1:18.3 | news for the whole of humankind because the crew of the Artemis II Moon mission are |
| 1:24.0 | homeward bound and due to reenter the Earth's atmosphere splashing down somewhere |
| 1:28.8 | in the Pacific Ocean later this week. Their historic lunar flyby successfully completed, their |
| 1:35.7 | space capsule passed on the far side of the moon, putting it out of radio contact for about |
| 1:40.7 | 40 minutes. It's the furthest humans have been into space for more than 50 years. |
| 1:46.6 | And this was the moment they lost contact with planet Earth. |
| 1:50.7 | And to all of you down there on Earth and around Earth, we love you from the moon. |
| 2:02.1 | Houston copies. We'll see on the other side. |
| 2:05.7 | Well, it was an anxious 40 minutes for the control room in Houston as the astronauts went behind the moon no longer visible from Earth. |
| 2:14.2 | And then contact was restored. |
| 2:16.9 | Houston, integrity, Comcheck. |
| 2:20.3 | Integrity, we have you loud and clear. |
| 2:24.3 | Hummy. |
... |
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