13 Minutes Presents: Artemis II Artemis II: 6. Halfway There
42 snips
Apr 4, 2026 
Kristin Fisher, a US space journalist who reports from mission control, updates on Integrity passing the halfway mark to the Moon. Short accounts cover the cancelled correction burn, stunning Orion photos, crew life in microgravity, debris tracking and avoidance, and discussions on lunar water, resources and what a future base must endure.
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Scale And Speed Of Orbital Debris
- There are millions of small debris particles orbiting Earth that travel at very high speeds and pose real risks to spacecraft.
- Maggie Aderin-Pocock cited ~40,000 tracked objects, ~1.2 million >1 cm, and ~130 million >1 mm fragments moving faster than bullets.
ISS Pockmarks And Avoidance Maneuvers
- Tim Peake recounted visible micrometeoroid and debris damage aboard the ISS like pockmarks and small chips in the cupola window.
- He noted occasional debris avoidance burns and cautioned about sliding gloves along handrails to avoid cuts from shards.
Detect And Respond To Debris With Ground Networks
- Track and mitigate debris using ground surveillance and telescopes; Orion relies on ground networks early in the mission.
- Maggie and Tim explained radar tracks ~5–10 cm objects near Earth while telescopes detect farther debris, enabling planned avoidance burns or shelter-in-place.