NASA’s Artemis II enters lunar space ahead of historic flyby

NASA’s Artemis II has entered lunar space, marking a major milestone ahead of its historic moon flyby and humanity’s return to deep space travel after more than five decades.

The four astronauts aboard the mission crossed into the moon’s sphere of influence early April 6, when their Orion capsule came under the stronger pull of lunar gravity.

At the time, the spacecraft was about 39,000 miles from the moon and roughly 232,000 miles from Earth.

The crew — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen — are the first humans to reach lunar space since Apollo 17 in December 1972.

Unlike the Apollo missions, Artemis II will not land on the moon. Instead, the Orion spacecraft will loop around the far side of the moon in a high-speed flyby, setting up a trajectory back to Earth.

During the maneuver, the astronauts are expected to travel farther from Earth than any crewed mission in history, surpassing the record set by Apollo 13.

At the peak of the flyby, Artemis II will reach a distance of more than 252,000 miles from Earth, according to NASA officials.

During the journey, the crew will observe the moon’s surface and gather data to support future missions, including planned lunar landings under the Artemis program.

They are also expected to witness a total solar eclipse from space — a rare vantage point unavailable from Earth.

The flyby will also serve a critical navigational purpose, using the moon’s gravity to slingshot the Orion capsule back toward Earth.

The mission is scheduled to conclude with a splashdown off the coast of San Diego on April 10, ending a 10-day journey.