South African National Space Agency engineers at Hartebeesthoek Ground Station tracked NASA's Orion spacecraft during its record-breaking lunar flyby, ensuring communication during key phases. The Artemis II crew achieved a maximum distance from Earth of 406,771km, surpassing previous human spaceflight records. Sansa provided telemetry and ranging data as part of global collaboration.
The Artemis II mission completed a seven-hour lunar flyby on April 6, marking humanity's first crewed return to the Moon region since Apollo 17 in 1972. The Orion spacecraft, carrying four NASA astronauts, passed within 6,545km of the lunar surface during a 40-minute loss of signal behind the Moon's far side. Two minutes after closest approach, the crew reached 406,771km from Earth, breaking the previous record for human spaceflight distance.
At Sansa's Hartebeesthoek Ground Station, the largest in the southern hemisphere and Africa, a team used two antennas—one from 1963 and one from 1988—to track the capsule when visible due to Earth's rotation. Raoul Hodges, Sansa Space Science executive director, said: “The module with the four astronauts needs its health to be monitored constantly. We bring that information down. Lots of information – telemetric data.” Sansa Chief Engineer Eugene Avenant noted preparations ensured antenna health and precise Doppler measurements using caesium or hydrogen maser clocks.
Data was relayed to a third party, not directly to NASA, with Sansa contracted for the support. Hodges described it as “a huge team effort to get the spacecraft into space and to get the astronauts back safely.”
Crew members observed lunar features, an Earthset and Earthrise, and a solar eclipse, reporting six meteoroid impacts. Commander Reid Wiseman said the crew “saw sights that no human has ever seen.” The mission is set to splash down off San Diego on April 10 at 2.07am South African time.
