Astronaut Reid Wiseman, the commander of Artemis II, described the experience as "surreal" and inspiring as it was while the Orion spacecraft rounded the far side of the Moon for 40 minutes, when the Moon blocked radio signals between Orion and NASA. The communication was restored once Orion emerged from behind the Moon and the crew resumed their scientific observations. Wiseman described watching Earth disappear from view as the spacecraft moved along the Moon’s far side. He also recalled an emotional moment during the mission when the crew named a lunar crater after his late wife, Carroll, who died of cancer in 2020. The Orion spacecraft is expected to land in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.