NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman has admitted that he was worried his crew might not make it back to Earth after their spacecraft went further than planned on the historic Artemis II circumlunar mission.
The 50-year-old astronaut recalled the frightening moment while speaking at the Starmus Festival in Tenerife, Spain, where the crew was honoured for its contribution to space exploration.
NASA’s mission control had told the astronauts that they would be up to a maximum of 219,667 nautical miles from the Earth. As the spacecraft closed in on that number, he was watching the distance indicator, anticipating the numbers to begin dropping as they headed home.
However, there was one strange thing that occurred. The reading increased, rising to 219,668 and 219,669 nautical miles. Wiseman said he began fearing that the spacecraft had travelled too far and might never make it back.
After three more minutes he could see the reading decrease, and finally the numbers indicated that the crew was coming back to Earth.
But was there really a danger that the astronauts would become lost in space?
No sign that anything was wrong with the spacecraft, or that it failed to follow its intended path. NASA later verified that the distance to Earth set by Artemis II was an all-time record of 252,756 miles.
The mission, which launched on April 1, 2026, carried Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen around the Moon. The four astronauts landed safely on April 10 after almost 10 days.
Wiseman also described experiencing what he called “Earthsickness”, an overwhelming longing to return home after seeing Earth reduced to a tiny object surrounded by darkness.
