Astronauts on NASA's Artemis II Mission Enters Lunar Gravity Zone

(MENAFN) The four-member crew aboard NASA's Artemis II mission crossed into the Moon's sphere of gravitational influence on Monday, reaching a critical threshold at which lunar gravity overtakes Earth's pull on the spacecraft.

The milestone was achieved four days, six hours, and two minutes into the mission, at a point roughly 62,800 kilometers — 39,000 miles — from the Moon and approximately 373,400 kilometers — 232,000 miles — from Earth.

The crew now sets its sights on an even more historic benchmark: a journey to the far side of the Moon later Monday that will carry human beings deeper into space than at any point in recorded history.

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

The Artemis II astronauts represent the first humans to journey toward the Moon in more than half a century, marking a profound revival of crewed lunar exploration since the curtain fell on the legendary Apollo program in 1972. The mission has reignited global attention on deep-space human exploration, with each passing milestone drawing the crew closer to territory no astronaut has traversed in a generation.

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