NASA’s Artemis II crew has reached the halfway point between Earth and the Moon and is continuing toward a lunar flyby that will mark humanity’s first crewed mission of its kind since Apollo 17 in 1972.
NASA said late Friday that the Orion spacecraft carrying Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen had crossed the midpoint of the journey, while live tracking data showed the capsule roughly 219,000 miles from Earth.
The four astronauts launched from Florida on April 1 aboard NASA’s Space Launch System and are flying a free return trajectory that will carry them around the Moon and back to Earth without landing.
NASA said the mission is the first crewed deep space flight of Orion and is designed to test the spacecraft’s systems ahead of future lunar landings under the Artemis program. Reuters reported the mission is scheduled to last about 10 days, with splashdown planned in the Pacific after the lunar flyby.
NASA has also released the first images captured by the crew, including views of Earth from deep space.
The agency said the astronauts are documenting the mission themselves as they head toward the Moon’s far side, which they are expected to photograph before beginning the return leg.
AP reported the crew is due to reach the Moon on Monday, with the mission set to break Apollo 13’s human distance record by traveling beyond the far side.
add your comment
Terms of publication : Not to offend the writer, people, sacred things, or attack religions or the divine self, and refrain from racist incitement and insults.