Artemis II Crew Reaches Lunar Sphere of Influence

(MENAFN) NASA’s Artemis II astronauts have entered the Moon’s sphere of influence, a region where lunar gravity begins to dominate over Earth’s pull.

This milestone occurred four days, six hours, and two minutes into the mission, when the spacecraft was roughly 62,800 kilometers (39,000 miles) from the Moon and 373,400 kilometers (232,000 miles) from Earth. The next major objective will take the crew to the Moon’s far side later on Monday, pushing human exploration deeper into space than ever before.

“We’re all extremely excited for tomorrow,” said Lori Glaze, the deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission. “Our flight operations team and our science team are ready for the first lunar flyby in more than 50 years.”

The Artemis II mission marks the first human journey toward the Moon since the conclusion of the Apollo program in 1972, returning astronauts to lunar exploration after more than five decades.

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