Watch: Artemis II mission loses contact with Earth for 40 minutes

During the Artemis II mission, astronauts temporarily lost communication with Earth while the spacecraft moved behind the Moon, resulting in a 40-minute signal gap. This communications blackout was anticipated as the Moon blocked the spacecraft’s signals.

NASA confirmed the crew reached the farthest distance from Earth during the blackout, approximately 252,756 miles (406,771km). Once contact was regained, astronaut Christina Koch said:

“It is so great to hear from Earth again.”

Fuel prices in the U.S. have surged past $4 at the pump, hitting a level not seen since 2022, driven by ongoing tensions in the Iran conflict. In an interview, BBC correspondent Gary O’Donoghue discussed a farmer in Alabama who remains steadfast in his support for President Trump despite significant financial strain.

A public artwork called “A throne fit for a king” was installed at the National Mall, serving as a commentary on Trump’s White House redesign efforts. NASA scientists have created a novel “universal waste management system”—referred to as the space loo—for the 10-day Artemis II mission.

Training for the Artemis II flight commenced at the Johnson Space Center in Texas shortly after the crew was officially announced in 2023. The spacesuits for Artemis II are engineered to shield astronauts during launch, landing, and potential emergency situations.

Mass demonstrations against the Trump administration occurred in multiple U.S. cities, representing the third round of No Kings rallies. US airports are dealing with extended delays due to TSA agents operating without compensation during a partial government shutdown.

At the annual CPAC conference in Texas, conservatives expressed varied opinions regarding the state of the economy. Recent reactions followed a Los Angeles jury ruling that Meta and Google deliberately designed addictive social media platforms detrimental to youth mental health.

In her initial post-disappearance interview, Savannah Guthrie described discovering her mother’s absence and grappling with the possibility that her celebrity status had made her mother a target. The debris from the incident temporarily closed one of the two runways at New York City’s bustling airport.

President Trump is set to host a summit focusing on AI, education, and safeguarding children in digital environments. A robot joined First Lady Melania Trump at the White House during a recent event. The yellow Labrador Retriever Tessie emerged unharmed from the incident and was returned to her yard after crews repaired the sinkhole.

BBC Verify examined the events leading up to the fatal collision between a passenger plane and a fire truck at New York City’s airport. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel have been sent to U.S. airports to aid TSA amid the partial government shutdown. Valero, a refinery operator, informed CBS, the BBC’s U.S. news partner, that no injuries were reported.

Video shows the aftermath of the collision between a passenger plane and a firefighting vehicle on the runway of the New York airport. An Air Canada aircraft with 72 passengers and four crew members landed safely from Montreal on Sunday evening before colliding with a firefighting vehicle.