NASA makes big mistake during Artemis II launch and invent whole new continent

Eagle-eyed social media users have noticed that NASA made a pretty big blunder following the launch of the Artemis II mission.

Yesterday (1 April) at 6.35pm EDT, which was 11.35pm in the UK, the 322-foot rocket Orion, carrying four crew members, blasted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

It marks NASA's first manned Moon mission in more than 50 years, taking astronauts deeper into space than any human has gone before.

On board for the 10-day-long trip around the Earth's only natural satellite and back are Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen.

Apart from a temporary toilet issue and a communication link being momentarily lost, the liftoff went smoothly, and it was confirmed that the crew is 'safe, secure, and in great spirits'.

They're able to communicate with mission command back on Earth via radio, and their view has also been streamed from the solar array wing of the Orion spacecraft.

Information and pictures are sent back to Earth using the Deep Space Network (DSN), a collection of big radio antennas.

One clip that's circulating on social media includes audio of the Artemis II crew communicating with mission control on Earth.

"The sun has set just west of a continent, but I can't tell what continent it is, I can't tell if it's South America or Africa," Commander Wiseman said of the view.

To which, someone from mission control said: "So, Reid, we're expecting that sunset that you're seeing right now should be right on the Indian continent. In India."

The comment left people slightly baffled since India, of course, isn't a continent.

One Reddit user penned: "The 'India continent' comment was crazy. Surely working at NASA you’d know your Earth."

However, someone else pointed out: "India is sometimes referred to as the 'Indian Subcontinent.' It's not that big of a mistake, more like using imprecise language."

To be fair, they are pulling off a historic moon mission and a pivotal moment for space exploration, so we'll give them a break.

The crew have described the incredible views they're seeing from the spacecraft (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Elsewhere in the same video, astronaut Koch described the incredible scene that the crew was witnessing.

She said: "Yeah, I just wanted to describe for you guys the beauty that we're seeing. You can actually make out the coastline of the continent. You can make out rivers because of the sun glare, you can see high thunder clouds, the South Pole lit up."

Koch added, "It is just phenomenal. It is just absolutely phenomenal. You guys look great."

While Wiseman agreed: "We just didn't want to let you go without saying that the view out of window three, from about 38,000 nautical miles, the entire half of the earth is spectacular."

Tyla has contacted NASA for comment.

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