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No humans have ventured farther from Earth than the astronauts aboard the Artemis mission.

As their spacecraft moves deeper into space and Earth fades into the distance, the crew has remained in steady contact with mission control in Houston, Texas. Reassuring messages from Nasa teams have provided a vital emotional and operational link to home.

That connection, however, is set to be temporarily severed.

At approximately 23:47 BST (18:47 EDT) on Monday, the spacecraft will pass behind the Moon, blocking radio and laser transmissions between the crew and Earth. The lunar body itself will interrupt communications, creating a period of total signal loss.

For roughly 40 minutes, the four astronauts will be cut off, left alone with their thoughts as they travel through the darkness of space — a rare and profound interval of silence and isolation.

Artemis pilot Victor Glover told us he hopes the world will use the time to come together.

"When we're behind the Moon, out of contact with everybody, let's take that as an opportunity," he told BBC News before the mission. "Let's pray, hope, send your good thoughts and feelings that we get back in contact with the crew."

The experience echoes earlier missions more than half a century ago, when Apollo astronauts also endured periods without communication during their journeys to the Moon.

Among them was Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins. In 1969, as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin descended to the lunar surface, Collins remained alone in the command module, orbiting above.

Each time his spacecraft moved behind the Moon’s far side, he lost contact with both the astronauts below and mission control for up to 48 minutes.

In his 1974 memoir Carrying the Fire, Collins recalled feeling “truly alone” and “isolated from any known life,” though he said the experience brought neither fear nor loneliness.

He later described the silence as peaceful, offering a temporary escape from the constant communication demands of mission control.

Back on Earth, the upcoming blackout will be a tense period for teams responsible for tracking the spacecraft.

At the Goonhilly Earth Station in Cornwall, England, a large antenna has been monitoring signals from the Orion capsule, precisely tracking its trajectory and relaying data to Nasa headquarters.

Matt Cosby, Goonhilly's chief technology officer, told the BBC: "This is the first time we're tracking a spacecraft with humans on it.

"We're going to get slightly nervous as it goes behind the Moon, and then we'll be very excited when we see it again, because we know that they're all safe."

Efforts are already underway to eliminate such communication gaps in future missions. Cosby said uninterrupted connectivity will be critical as Nasa and international partners expand lunar exploration and work toward establishing a sustained presence on the Moon.

"For a sustainable presence on the Moon, you need the full comms - you need the full 24 hours a day, even on the far side, because the far side will want to be explored as well," he said.

Projects such as the European Space Agency’s Moonlight initiative aim to deploy a network of satellites in lunar orbit, enabling continuous and reliable communications coverage.

During the blackout, Artemis astronauts are expected to focus entirely on lunar observation. Their tasks will include photographing the surface, analyzing geological features and observing the Moon in detail.

Once the spacecraft emerges from behind the Moon and communications are restored, anticipation on Earth will give way to relief.

The crew will then be able to reconnect — and share their extraordinary perspective from deep space with those back home.