The astronauts on the Artemis II mission have entered the moon’s gravitational sphere, meaning the spacecraft is now more strongly affected by the moon’s gravity than Earth’s, NASA said on Monday.
At the moment the spacecraft crossed into the lunar sphere of influence, the Orion capsule was about 63,000 kilometers (39,000 miles) from the moon and roughly 232,000 miles from Earth, a NASA official said. In the next few hours the crew is expected to make its closest approach to the moon, coming to about 7,500 kilometres beyond the lunar far side.
Artemis II’s flight path traces a figure-eight around Earth and the moon. When the spacecraft reaches its nearest point, the astronauts will be able to view Earth and the moon simultaneously and may observe a solar eclipse as the Sun disappears behind the moon from Orion’s vantage.
NASA said the crew entered the lunar sphere of influence at 0442 GMT Monday and will record the first crewed lunar flyby since 1972. During the mission the astronauts will travel farther from Earth than any humans ever have.
The four-member crew — US astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Reid Wiseman, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen — are the first people to travel to the moon in more than 50 years. Victor Glover will be the first person of color to fly around the moon, and Christina Koch will be the first woman to do so.
The crew is tasked with documenting the lunar surface during the flyby. They have already begun seeing lunar features never before viewed with the naked human eye. In the early hours of Sunday, NASA released an image taken by the Artemis II crew showing the distant moon with the Orientale basin visible. “This mission marks the first time the entire basin has been seen with human eyes,” the agency said.
Edited by: Natalie Muller