Artemis-2, carrying four astronauts, has returned to Earth after orbiting the moon. Four astronauts touched down on the moon on Tuesday morning, Nepali time. This time, they also set a new record for the furthest human journey from Earth. The Artemis-2 lunar mission completely lost contact with Earth when it reached the dark and cold south pole (far side of the moon).

It is estimated that about 1.2 billion people watched the live broadcast of this mission, however, the data has not been integrated as it was broadcast on various NASA platforms and others. It was also broadcast live on NASA's website and other platforms, YouTube, Facebook, X, as well as Netflix and Disney. The mission, which was broadcast live from a distance of about 400,000 kilometers, was available in 4K quality.

The moment Artemis-2 approached the lunar surface and crossed the record distance set by Apollo-13 was watched live by about 10 million people on NASA's X alone. Earlier, it is estimated that about 650 million people watched the moment when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first set foot on the lunar surface via Apollo-11.

Various books have written that 20 percent of the world watched that moment on television in 1969. NASA continued to broadcast live even after the astronauts lost contact for about 40 minutes. At that time, more than 10 million viewers were connected to NASA's official channel and various social media platforms. Many of them were orbiting the moon via an SD card carried on the Orion spacecraft. The loss of contact was not a technical glitch, it was an expected 'blackout'.

The moon blocked the radio signal between the spacecraft and Earth when it reached the back. Although the ‘blackout’ was expected, it is considered technically sensitive whether the spacecraft will safely exit from behind the moon. As the astronauts touched down on the moon and reconnected, excitement was expressed in NASA’s Mission Control Room in Houston and viewers watching live.

Astronaut Christina Koch said she was excited to reconnect with Earth. “We will explore more in the future, we will build new spacecraft and go on trips again,” she said, “but in the end, we will always choose Earth, we will choose each other.”  Before successfully touching down on the moon and beginning their four-day journey back to Earth, the astronauts spoke directly with US President Donald Trump and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. Trump congratulated the four astronauts of the Artemis-2 mission for being “the leading explorers of the modern era.” “I want to say a special hello to everyone on Artemis-2, you have made America proud today,” Trump said. “America will never be left behind in the pursuit of space exploration and discovery. Our journey is not just to the moon, but to go much further.”

During the journey, the Artemis-2 team directly observed the far side of the moon from about 6,000 km. Since it is gravitationally bound to the Earth in only one direction, that part of the moon is never visible from Earth. It is also considered a mysterious region. All previous spacecraft, including humans, have landed on the side of the moon facing Earth. The Artemis-2 astronauts also observed the moment when the Earth rises on the lunar surface, called ‘Earthrise,’ and a solar eclipse as seen from the lunar surface. This mission broke the 56-year-old record set by Apollo-13.

The astronauts have reached a distance of 46,000 km from Earth. This is the furthest point that mankind has ever reached.  Astronauts have captured rare images and views during this mission. The moment the moon blocked the sun and cast a shadow on some parts of the Earth, the African continent seen from space is viral on social media.