Authored by Debra Heine via American Greatness,

A “shocking” number of former female employees and interns are preparing to come forward to accuse Rep. Eric Swalwell (|D-Calif.) of sexual misconduct, according to a Democrat activist.

Cheyenne Hunt, a lawyer, former congressional candidate and executive director of the left-wing nonprofit Gen-Z for Change, revealed on X Sunday, that she has been working with a number of women who are in the process of sharing their accusations with major news outlets. Hunt said she knew of a separate and “much larger group” of women who are also currently in the process of sharing their stories.

Swalwell’s alleged inappropriate sexual behavior is said to be an “open secret” in Washington DC, as is his alleged practice of forcing underlings to sign nondisclosure agreements.

Hunt posted an initial video on Instagram in late March accusing Swalwell of having “a known history of being predatory towards women.”  She cited a woman who told her: “You know Eric Swalwell has slept with many of his interns and makes them all sign NDAs so they don’t speak up, right? And when I was 19 he tried hitting on me and sliding into my DMs and I have so many other friends that have similar experiences with him.”

Hunt said the allegation was “not an anomaly” but “part of a pattern.”

After that video was posted, she said a “pretty shocking” number of “credible” women came forward with more stories and she connected them “with the investigative reporting teams who have been working on breaking this for years.”

“Anyone who has been in DC for five minutes knows this,” said Democrat campaign advisor Bri Gillis on X. “It’s actually wild it took this long.”

Hunt said Gillis’ “sentiment” was “widely shared among folks” she’d spoken with.

“Not only are people unsurprised, but many of them have been able to send impacted women our way,” she wrote.

“I got involved because the first victim who approached me is a close friend, but when I saw that there were others who’s experiences fit the same pattern of manipulation and abuse of power, I knew I couldn’t stay silent,” Hunt wrote in her lengthy X thread.

Some of the allegations allegedly concern direct messages and Snapchat messages that range “from uncomfortable comments to potentially criminal conduct.”

Hunt claimed that Swalwell routinely targeted “employees, interns, and fans” and acted “as a mentor just to exploit that power.”

She added that the women have “secured pro bono legal representation” and are “in the process of sharing information with reporters and ensuring that they are physically and legally safe.”

“That process takes time,” she emphasized.

Hunt added that she knows Swalwell’s team “is aware of my video and the other creators talking about” the allegations, but she has not yet “been served with legal paperwork” or received a “cease and desist.”

Swalwell has been a member of the House since 2013 and was accused of having an affair with a suspected Chinese spy on his 2014 campaign staff.  U.S. Intel officials said at the time that his alleged relations with the spy were part of an extensive political intelligence operation run by China between 2011 and 2015. The Democrat reportedly severed ties with Fang Fang in 2015 after being briefed by U.S. intelligence officials. The alleged affair was made public in 2020.

Then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) booted Swalwell off the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) in January 2023, largely over the alleged affair.

“Eric Swalwell cannot get a security clearance in the public sector. Why would we ever give him a security clearance in the secrets to America? So, I will not allow him to be on Intel,” McCarthy said at the time.

The FBI, under Director Kash Patel, is reportedly preparing to release investigative files related to Swalwell’s past interactions with the spy Christine Fang (also known as Fang Fang).

New York City Council Member Vickie Paladino maintained on X that the media is complicit for keeping the profusion of allegations quiet.

“The thing about all these Eric Swalwell revelations is that ALL of them were known for years,” Paladino wrote. “But the media worked with the Democrat establishment to keep them quiet as long as Swalwell was useful.”

Now, because the California governor race has become a fiasco that might actually lead to a Republican winning unless a couple of Dems drop out to consolidate the vote, he needs to go. And like clockwork, here comes the orchestrated campaign of sexual harassment claims to end his career.

To be sure, Swalwell is garbage and deserves everything bad that’s coming to him. But it’s just amazing how the Democrats can just push a button and the machinery of the media and legal system just springs into action to eject someone from the party.

This is a guy who was caught sleeping with a Chinese spy for years, with actual evidence that he compromised national security in the process, and he remained completely protected and elevated as a major national figure. But as soon as the math stops working on the CA governor race, it all collapses underneath him.

Wild stuff.

X influencer “Bad Hombre” posted a graphic accusing Swalwell of being “a serial projector,” that is, someone who attributes his own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, flaws, impulses and behavior to other people.

Swalwell, incredibly, is the leading Democrat contender in the crowded race for California’s governor, with 13.7 percent of the vote in the RealClearPolitics poll average. Republican Steve Hilton currently leads the pack with 14.7 percent.

Third place contender, Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco (R), is now calling for Swalwell to drop out of California Governor’s race.

“He’s NOT going to survive this. This is not going to be good,” Bianco told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson. “He should probably just drop out and save his family.”

Swalwell’s press X account posted on Monday, “Has anyone checked in on Chad Bianco today?”

The sheriff replied: “Just praying for any and every female who’s ever had to be in the presence of Eric Swalwell.”

Update:

Swalwell’s campaign responded to Hunt’s allegations Tuesday evening, fiercely denying any sexual misconduct towards former staffers or interns.

“This false, outrageous rumor is being spread 27 days before an election begins by flailing opponents who have sadly teamed up with MAGA conspiracy theorists because they know Eric Swalwell is the frontrunner in this race,” Micah Beasley, a spokesperson for Swalwell, told the New York Post.

Authored by Debra Heine via American Greatness,

A “shocking” number of former female employees and interns are preparing to come forward to accuse Rep. Eric Swalwell (|D-Calif.) of sexual misconduct, according to a Democrat activist.

Cheyenne Hunt, a lawyer, former congressional candidate and executive director of the left-wing nonprofit Gen-Z for Change, revealed on X Sunday, that she has been working with a number of women who are in the process of sharing their accusations with major news outlets. Hunt said she knew of a separate and “much larger group” of women who are also currently in the process of sharing their stories.

Swalwell’s alleged inappropriate sexual behavior is said to be an “open secret” in Washington DC, as is his alleged practice of forcing underlings to sign nondisclosure agreements.

Hunt posted an initial video on Instagram in late March accusing Swalwell of having “a known history of being predatory towards women.”  She cited a woman who told her: “You know Eric Swalwell has slept with many of his interns and makes them all sign NDAs so they don’t speak up, right? And when I was 19 he tried hitting on me and sliding into my DMs and I have so many other friends that have similar experiences with him.”

Hunt said the allegation was “not an anomaly” but “part of a pattern.”

After that video was posted, she said a “pretty shocking” number of “credible” women came forward with more stories and she connected them “with the investigative reporting teams who have been working on breaking this for years.”

“Anyone who has been in DC for five minutes knows this,” said Democrat campaign advisor Bri Gillis on X. “It’s actually wild it took this long.”

Hunt said Gillis’ “sentiment” was “widely shared among folks” she’d spoken with.

“Not only are people unsurprised, but many of them have been able to send impacted women our way,” she wrote.

“I got involved because the first victim who approached me is a close friend, but when I saw that there were others who’s experiences fit the same pattern of manipulation and abuse of power, I knew I couldn’t stay silent,” Hunt wrote in her lengthy X thread.

Some of the allegations allegedly concern direct messages and Snapchat messages that range “from uncomfortable comments to potentially criminal conduct.”

Hunt claimed that Swalwell routinely targeted “employees, interns, and fans” and acted “as a mentor just to exploit that power.”

She added that the women have “secured pro bono legal representation” and are “in the process of sharing information with reporters and ensuring that they are physically and legally safe.”

“That process takes time,” she emphasized.

Hunt added that she knows Swalwell’s team “is aware of my video and the other creators talking about” the allegations, but she has not yet “been served with legal paperwork” or received a “cease and desist.”

Swalwell has been a member of the House since 2013 and was accused of having an affair with a suspected Chinese spy on his 2014 campaign staff.  U.S. Intel officials said at the time that his alleged relations with the spy were part of an extensive political intelligence operation run by China between 2011 and 2015. The Democrat reportedly severed ties with Fang Fang in 2015 after being briefed by U.S. intelligence officials. The alleged affair was made public in 2020.

Then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) booted Swalwell off the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) in January 2023, largely over the alleged affair.

“Eric Swalwell cannot get a security clearance in the public sector. Why would we ever give him a security clearance in the secrets to America? So, I will not allow him to be on Intel,” McCarthy said at the time.

The FBI, under Director Kash Patel, is reportedly preparing to release investigative files related to Swalwell’s past interactions with the spy Christine Fang (also known as Fang Fang).

New York City Council Member Vickie Paladino maintained on X that the media is complicit for keeping the profusion of allegations quiet.

“The thing about all these Eric Swalwell revelations is that ALL of them were known for years,” Paladino wrote. “But the media worked with the Democrat establishment to keep them quiet as long as Swalwell was useful.”

Now, because the California governor race has become a fiasco that might actually lead to a Republican winning unless a couple of Dems drop out to consolidate the vote, he needs to go. And like clockwork, here comes the orchestrated campaign of sexual harassment claims to end his career.

To be sure, Swalwell is garbage and deserves everything bad that’s coming to him. But it’s just amazing how the Democrats can just push a button and the machinery of the media and legal system just springs into action to eject someone from the party.

This is a guy who was caught sleeping with a Chinese spy for years, with actual evidence that he compromised national security in the process, and he remained completely protected and elevated as a major national figure. But as soon as the math stops working on the CA governor race, it all collapses underneath him.

Wild stuff.

X influencer “Bad Hombre” posted a graphic accusing Swalwell of being “a serial projector,” that is, someone who attributes his own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, flaws, impulses and behavior to other people.

Swalwell, incredibly, is the leading Democrat contender in the crowded race for California’s governor, with 13.7 percent of the vote in the RealClearPolitics poll average. Republican Steve Hilton currently leads the pack with 14.7 percent.

Third place contender, Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco (R), is now calling for Swalwell to drop out of California Governor’s race.

“He’s NOT going to survive this. This is not going to be good,” Bianco told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson. “He should probably just drop out and save his family.”

Swalwell’s press X account posted on Monday, “Has anyone checked in on Chad Bianco today?”

The sheriff replied: “Just praying for any and every female who’s ever had to be in the presence of Eric Swalwell.”

Update:

Swalwell’s campaign responded to Hunt’s allegations Tuesday evening, fiercely denying any sexual misconduct towards former staffers or interns.

“This false, outrageous rumor is being spread 27 days before an election begins by flailing opponents who have sadly teamed up with MAGA conspiracy theorists because they know Eric Swalwell is the frontrunner in this race,” Micah Beasley, a spokesperson for Swalwell, told the New York Post.

Israel has made clear that it doesn’t see the newly declared US-Iran ceasefire as applying to its war in Lebanon, where it is still trying to destroy Hezbollah. The White House too has made its stance clear that it doesn’t apply, but President Trump has stated his intent to take care of a Lebanon ceasefire separately. 

The military has unleashed hell on Beirut, southern Lebanon, and the eastern Bekaa valley overnight and through Wednesday – with Beirut suffering some of the worst aerial bombardments of the war.

via Associated Press

Pakistan, however, has said that the ceasefire does extend to the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. But the Israeli military (IDF) is as usual letting the bombs do the talking, and is largely ignoring the diplomatic side of things.

Israel on Wednesday reportedly struck over 100 Hezbollah (and civilian) targets within a mere 10 minutes across Beirut, the south of the country, and Bekaa.

Viral images and videos have shown massive smoke plumes lingering above the densely populated Lebanese capital. The surprise attack on busy commercial locations unleashed panic in the streets – and a full casualty accounting has not been immediately forthcoming .

Below is an outline of some of the earlier reported attacks, via Al Jazeera:

An air raid on a funeral in the the east Lebanon village of Shmestar killed at least 10 people.
Six people were killed in one attack in Saida.
Three people were killed in a strike in western Beirut.
Three girls were killed in the coastal town of Adloun.
At least two were killed in Douris in the Bekaa Valley.
Casualties were reported in Kayfoun in Mount Lebanon.

⚡️Beirut now

Holy shit… pic.twitter.com/7hHquWxM2Y

— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) April 8, 2026

Here’s how the same regional outlet described it, noting that Lebanese TV has said the attacks have claimed “many lives”:  “Israel has launched a surprise attack with dozens of air strikes across Lebanon, one of the largest military assaults in the history of the conflict.” The report stated, “Air raids targeted residential buildings, mosques, vehicles and cemeteries across the country.”

Lebanon’s Minister of Social Affairs, Haneed Sayed, told the Associated Press that the wide-ranging strikes mark a “very dangerous turning point.”

She described: “These hits are now at the heart of Beirut… Half of the sheltered (internally displaced persons) are in Beirut in this area,” she said, adding that she had just driven by the areas hit.”

⚡️ Footage from the airstrikes on Beirut pic.twitter.com/HTDOdwFY33

— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) April 8, 2026

Hezbollah did not immediately join the Iran war until weeks in following the late February start of Trump’s Operation Epic Fury. However, by the middle it began sending a significant amount of rockets on northern Israel.

Importantly, President Trump has on Wednesday told PBS that his view is Lebanon is not part of the Iran ceasefire deal “because of Hezbollah” – but “that will get taken care of too”. He called what’s happening in Lebanon “a separate skirmish”.

Authored by Martin Young via CoinTelegraph.com,

Anthropic is limiting access to its new AI model after the company said it identified thousands of software vulnerabilities across major systems, raising concerns about potential misuse in cyberattacks.

The new general-purpose model, Anthropic said, also found high-severity vulnerabilities in every major operating system and web browser.

“Given the rate of AI progress, it will not be long before such capabilities proliferate, potentially beyond actors who are committed to deploying them safely.”

AI has already been widely adopted by hackers to conduct cyberattacks.

There was a 72% year-over-year increase in AI-powered cyberattacks, with 87% of global organizations experiencing AI-enabled cyberattacks in 2025, according to AllAboutAI. 

Anthropic expressed concern over what would happen if similar AI capabilities were used by bad actors.

To combat this, Anthropic announced Project Glasswing on Tuesday, a new initiative that brings together more than 40 companies, including Amazon Web Services, Apple, Cisco, Google, JPMorgan, the Linux Foundation, Microsoft and Nvidia.

Project Glasswing will use Claude Mythos Preview’s capabilities to defensively find bugs, share the data with its partners and get ahead of threats by patching critical vulnerabilities before bad actors can exploit them.

Decades-old bugs are being discovered 

A zero-day vulnerability is a software bug that can be exploited before anyone with the ability to fix it even knows it exists. Finding and patching them has historically required rare, expensive human expertise, but AI could change the scale and speed of detection. 

Anthropic said the vulnerabilities it finds are “often subtle or difficult to detect.” 

Many of them are 10 or 20 years old, with the oldest found so far being a now-patched 27-year-old bug in OpenBSD — an operating system known primarily for its security, it added. 

It also found a 16-year-old bug in the FFmpeg media processing library, a 17-year-old remote code execution vulnerability in the open-source FreeBSD operating system and numerous vulnerabilities in the Linux kernel.

Mythos Preview also identified several weaknesses in the world’s most popular cryptography libraries, algorithms and protocols, including TLS, AES-GCM and SSH. 

It added that web applications “contain a myriad of vulnerabilities,” ranging from cross-site scripting and SQL injection to domain-specific vulnerabilities such as cross-site request forgery, which is often used in phishing attacks. 

Lifecycle of a zero-day exploit. Source: PhoenixNAP

Anthropic claimed that 99% of the vulnerabilities it found have not yet been patched, “so it would be irresponsible for us to disclose details about them.

Software will emerge more secure, but not overnight 

Anthropic said that this is likely just the beginning of a trend, and the “work of defending the world’s cyber infrastructure might take years,” but AI will help harden software and systems. 

“In the long run, we expect that defense capabilities will dominate: that the world will emerge more secure, with software better hardened—in large part by code written by these models. But the transitional period will be fraught.”

Delta Air Lines soared in premarket trading on a combination of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire and stronger-than-expected first-quarter results, with the carrier’s in-house refinery helping to lower the average jet fuel price for its fleet in the first quarter, making it appear to be one of the better-positioned carriers than most peers to withstand an energy shock.

Even without a ceasefire in the Middle East, Delta’s first-quarter results only exemplified its strategic advantage over peers: its Trainer refinery in Pennsylvania, operated through its wholly owned subsidiary Monroe Energy, reduced the airline’s fuel price by more than 2% during the quarter and is expected to provide a $300 million benefit in the second quarter.

“Delta is best positioned to navigate this environment, with a leading brand, strong financial foundation, and the benefit of our refinery,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian wrote in the earnings release.

Bastian continued, “We delivered earnings that were more than 40% higher than last year, even with a significant increase in fuel costs and operational disruptions across the industry.”

The airline expects second-quarter jet fuel expenses to top $2 billion at the forward curve.

Here’s a snapshot of first-quarter earnings (courtesy of Bloomberg):

Adjusted EPS 64c vs. 45c y/y, estimate 57c (Bloomberg Consensus)

Loss per share 44c vs. EPS 37c y/y

Adjusted revenue $14.20 billion, +9.4% y/y, estimate $14.08 billion

Passenger revenue $12.30 billion, +7.2% y/y, estimate $12.28 billion

Cargo revenue $226 million, +8.7% y/y, estimate $213.7 million

Passenger load factor 81.6% vs. 81.4% y/y, estimate 82.4%

Available seat miles 69.16 billion, +1.1% y/y, estimate 69.15 billion

Revenue passenger miles 56.47 billion, +1.4% y/y, estimate 56.96 billion

Adjusted net income $423 million, +45% y/y, estimate $372 million

Yield per passenger mile 21.78c, +5.6% y/y

“Demand remains strong, and we are taking actions to protect our margins and cash flow. This includes meaningfully reducing capacity growth, with a downward bias until the fuel environment improves, and moving quickly to recapture higher fuel costs. Delta is best positioned to navigate this environment,” the CEO said.

Earnings outlook for the second quarter (courtesy of Bloomberg):

Sees adjusted EPS of $1 to $1.50, estimate $1.45

Sees adjusted total revenue up low teens y/y

Sees adjusted operating margin of 6% to 8%

Shares of Delta jumped nearly 13% in premarket trading. Delta shares tumbled into a bear market last month during the U.S.-Iran conflict but have since rebounded from mid-March.

Related: 

Airline Stocks Soar On Iran Ceasefire As IATA Sees “Positive” Tailwinds, But Warns Jet Fuel Crisis Will Persist

Delta is the only U.S. airline that operates a major refinery, and it appears Wall Street is rewarding the carrier for it.

Iran plans to require shipping companies to pay transit tolls in Bitcoin for vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, according to a Financial Times report.

As Micah Zimmerman reports for BitcoinMagazine.com, this links bitcoin to one of the world’s most critical energy corridors and current events.

The policy would apply to oil tankers seeking passage during a two-week ceasefire between Iran and the United States, announced after a shift in posture from Donald Trump. The arrangement aims to reopen a route that handles a large share of global oil flows while allowing Tehran to maintain control over access.

According to statements attributed to Iranian officials, shipping firms would receive a payment request prior to transit. Once approved, vessels would be given a short window to complete the transaction in bitcoin. The structure reflects an attempt to bypass traditional financial rails that remain constrained by sanctions, while preserving a mechanism for enforcement over passage.

As The FT details, Hamid Hosseini, a spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union, told the FT on Wednesday that Iran wanted to collect tolling fees from any tanker passing and to assess each ship.

“Iran needs to monitor what goes in and out of the strait to ensure these two weeks aren’t used for transferring weapons,” said Hosseini, whose industry association works closely with the state.

“Everything can pass through, but the procedure will take time for each vessel, and Iran is not in a rush,” he added.

Decisions on the conditions for passing the strait are taken by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. Hosseini’s remarks suggest Iran will require any tankers to use the northerly route close to its coastline, raising questions over whether western or Gulf state-linked vessels will be willing to risk transit.

Hosseini said that each tanker must email authorities about its cargo, after which Iran will inform them of the toll to be paid in digital currencies.

He said that the tariff is $1 per barrel of oil, adding that empty tankers can pass freely.

“Once the email arrives and Iran completes its assessment, vessels are given a few seconds to pay in bitcoin, ensuring they can’t be traced or confiscated due to sanctions,” Hosseini added.

Bitcoin, Iran, and the Strait of Hormuz

The move places bitcoin at the center of a geopolitical flashpoint. Iran has faced restrictions on dollar-based settlement systems for years, limiting its ability to collect fees or process payments tied to maritime trade. By shifting to bitcoin, authorities seek a channel that operates outside conventional banking networks and offers resistance to seizure.

Shipping companies face a different calculation. Compliance may secure safe passage through a narrow waterway that links the Persian Gulf to global markets, but it introduces exposure to digital asset volatility, operational risk, and legal uncertainty tied to sanctions regimes. 

Markets have begun to react. Bitcoin rose above $72,500 following the ceasefire announcement, reversing earlier weakness tied to fears of escalation.

Currently bitcoin is trading near $73,000. The price move reflects a shift in risk sentiment as traders reassess the likelihood of supply disruptions and broader conflict.

The proposed toll system underscores how digital assets can intersect with state policy under pressure.

For Iran, bitcoin offers a tool to collect revenue and assert control without reliance on intermediaries.

For global shipping, it signals a potential change in how access to key infrastructure could be priced and enforced.

The ceasefire remains limited in scope and duration. Any breakdown in negotiations could halt transit or alter the payment framework, leaving companies exposed to sudden shifts in policy.

For now, the introduction of bitcoin as a toll mechanism marks a test case for cryptocurrency use in sovereign-controlled trade routes, with implications that extend beyond the region.

Unpalatable

Allowing Iran to continue to control the crucial waterway is likely to be highly unpalatable to Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.

It also raises questions for Opec+, the oil producers’ group, with analysts warning that handing Iran control of Hormuz could fundamentally alter the balance of power within the organisation by giving Tehran a potential veto over rival members’ exports.

Ali Shihabi, a commentator close to the Saudi royal court, said the kingdom would demand “unimpeded” access to global markets.

“Allowing Iran any form of control over the strait would be a red line,” Shihabi said. “The priority has to be unimpeded access through the strait.”

Several traders said they thought the situation in the coming days would resemble the system that has developed over the past fortnight, in which a handful of ships that have been approved by Iran are allowed to pass on a specific route.

ASP Isotopes could provide timely relief for the global helium shortage.

In a new research note from Canaccord Genuity analyst George Gianarikas, he highlights the company’s Virginia Gas Project in South Africa as a potential new source of supply just as Qatar’s helium exports face major disruption.

The warning comes shortly after we reported on Qatar’s Ras Laffan complex damage and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which together threaten roughly one-third of global helium output. Helium remains essential for semiconductor manufacturing, MRI machines, aerospace systems, and quantum computing. It has no practical substitute in chip fabrication, where it cools wafers and detects microscopic leaks.

ASP Isotopes’ Virginia Gas Project stands out because of its unusually high helium concentrations. The 1,870 sq. km deposit averages 3.4% helium, with peaks reaching 12%. That compares with Qatar’s typical 0.01% and the U.S. average of 0.35%.

As we discussed last month, Phase 1 drilling wrapped up four months ahead of schedule in March 2026. Production is scheduled to begin in late 2026, delivering 58 MCF per day of helium alongside LNG. 

Phase 2, targeted for completion around 2030, would scale output to 895 MCF per day. Using conservative pricing of $380 per MCF, Canaccord estimates Phase 1 revenue near $20 million annually and Phase 2 above $285 million.

The project benefits from U.S. International Development Finance Corporation backing and is located in a geopolitically neutral jurisdiction.

ASP Isotopes now faces the standard execution challenges of moving from drilling to full commercial output, but the asset positions the company as one of the few near-term Western-aligned sources capable of adding meaningful new supply.

Authored by T.J. Muscaro via The Epoch Times,

The Artemis II astronauts are on their way home from the moon.

NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen left lunar space just before 1:30 p.m. ET on April 7.

After carrying humanity’s representatives to the farthest point in space ever ventured—where they witnessed cosmic wonders never before seen by mankind—the Orion spacecraft Integrity will return its crew to Earth’s gravity, targeting a splashdown in the Pacific.

But it was the moon that ultimately sent them home. Integrity swung around the farside of the moon, essentially using its gravitational pull to make the necessary U-turn to start the nearly four-day journey home.

The ship reached a peak altitude of 252,756 statute miles above the Earth just after 7 p.m. on April 6 as the moon blocked communications. It was around this point that the crew was at their closest point to the moon, a little more than 4,000 miles above the lunar surface.

Once the crew re-emerged from behind the moon and reacquired communication with mission control, their distance to Earth only became closer and closer. But they started home with confidence of a successful return very soon.

“We will explore. We will build ships. We will visit again,” Koch said.

“We will construct science outposts. We will drive rovers. We will do radio astronomy. We will found companies. We will bolster industry. We will inspire.

“But ultimately, we will always choose Earth. We will always choose each other.”

Artemis Ii is scheduled to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego just after 8 p.m. ET on April 10.

Flight director Rick Henfling told reporters during a daily mission briefing at Johnson Space Center on April 7 that the mission’s recovery ship, the USS John P Murtha, has left port in anticipation for Integrity’s return.

Gigabytes of Data

Henfling was joined by NASA administrator Jared Isaacman, who said that as Artemis II continues its journey home, approximately 175 gigabytes of data collected during its seven-hour lunar flyby will be beamed down ahead of it.

Kelsey Young, the mission’s lunar science lead, said that NASA scientists will spend the next six months after splashdown studying all of the images and data and releasing two reports for the public. One report will focus on NASA’s operational structure during the flyby, analyzing how lunar science worked seamlessly with flight operations and the crew during the event. The second will be a preliminary science report that will demonstrate the results of each objective. Young emphasized that the science report will be structured in a way that is transparent and empowers the scientific community to help further expand understanding of the material themselves.

But some photos that made it back to Earth have already been released.

One of them is “Earthset.” Like Apollo 8’s historic “Earthrise” picture taken in December 1968, Artemis II’s striking image displays humanity’s home planet partially lit just above the lunar horizon. But Apollo 8 photographed the Earth after coming around the farside of the moon when the Earth appeared to rise in the lunar sky.

Earthset captured through the Orion spacecraft window at 6:41 p.m. ET on April 6, 2026, during the Artemis II crew’s flyby of the Moon. Courtesy of NASA

Artemis II took its picture of a crescent Earth just before it appeared to set below the horizon as Integrity flew around the farside of the moon.

The space agency has also shared pictures of the visible farside of the moon that include pictures of the entire Orientale Basin, parts of the lunar South Pole-Aitken Basin, and the two craters that the Artemis II crew hopes to officially name. They proposed that one crater be named Integrity, after their spaceship, and another be named Carroll in honor of Wiseman’s late wife, who passed away in 2020 of cancer.

As Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen watch the Earth get bigger and bigger in the window, they continue to perform mission objectives, including another manual test flight and course correction burn. They also had a ship-to-ship communication with NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, and Chris Williams, and European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot aboard the International Space Station.

It was the first ship-to-ship communication between astronauts in low Earth orbit and deep space. The eight colleagues shared laughs, messages of support, and what the moonshot was like for the three former space station crew members compared to their times in Earth orbit. They also recognized how so much of space station life was integrated into Artemis II, even down to the fact that the crews were eating the same food.

The ship-to-ship transmission ended with both crews wishing each other good luck and that they were all looking forward to being reunited with each other back on home soil.