NASA's Artemis II lunar flyby is being livestreamed on Netflix tonight

Dubai: Humanity is heading back to the Moon for the first time since 1972, and you can watch the most dramatic moment of the journey from your sofa tonight.

NASA's Artemis II mission launched on 1 April from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft: NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, alongside Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. The ten-day mission marks the first time humans have travelled to the Moon since the Apollo 17 mission more than five decades ago.

While Netflix sat out the launch itself, the streaming platform has now confirmed it will be broadcasting the mission's most anticipated moment live: the lunar flyby, in which the Orion spacecraft will slingshot around the far side of the Moon before using lunar gravity to propel the crew back toward Earth ahead of a scheduled splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on 10 April.

What will actually happen during the flyby

Tonight's broadcast is set to be genuinely historic. During the flyby, the Artemis II crew will shatter the existing record for the furthest distance any human has ever travelled from Earth. The previous record was held by the Apollo 13 crew, set during their emergency return journey in April 1970.

The spacecraft is expected to break that record at 1.56pm, before reaching its maximum distance of 252,760 miles from Earth at 7.07pm. That surpasses Apollo 13's record of 248,655 miles, making tonight a moment that will be written into the history books.

There will also be a tense 40-minute window during the flyby when all communication with the crew goes dark. As Orion swings around the far side of the Moon, the lunar surface will obstruct radio signals entirely, cutting off contact with mission control. Once the spacecraft reappears on the other side, the network will work swiftly to reestablish the connection.

Netflix livestream UAE time

Netflix will be tapping directly into NASA's official broadcast feed for the stream, bringing the moment to millions of subscribers around the world. A NASA representative confirmed the stream alongside a new notice on the official NASA+ Live on Netflix page.

The livestream begins tonight at 9pm UAE time on Netflix.

Areeba Hashmi is a trainee at Gulf News.