Washington, DC [US], April 5 (ANI): Artemis II has reached the “two-thirds” mark of its journey to the Moon, NASA said in a statement Sunday. The milestone occurred during Flight Day 4.
In a post on X, NASA said, “Artemis II just hit the ‘two-thirds’ mark of the journey to the Moon. During Flight Day 4, the astronauts aboard Orion went over plans to study the Moon during their upcoming lunar flyby and are currently practicing manually controlling the spacecraft.”
Reid Wiseman, an astronaut aboard Artemis II, said, “There are no words.”
Artemis II astronauts began their historic lunar flyby Saturday, venturing deeper into space than even the Apollo astronauts. The three Americans and one Canadian are expected to reach their destination Monday, photographing the lunar far side along the way. It marks the first crewed mission to the Moon in more than 53 years, continuing where NASA’s Apollo program left off, Politico reported.
Artemis II is set to establish a distance record for humans, traveling more than 252,000 miles from Earth before making a U-turn behind the Moon and heading home without stopping or entering lunar orbit. The current record is held by Apollo 13.
The Canadian Space Agency highlighted the country’s role in the mission from Quebec, with astronaut Jeremy Hansen heading toward his lunar rendezvous. Hansen is the first non-US citizen to travel to the Moon, according to Politico.
“Today he is making history for Canada,” said Canadian Space Agency President Lisa Campbell. “As we watch him take this bold step into the unknown, let his journey remind us that Canada’s future is written by those who dare to reach for more.”
Hansen, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch are the first lunar astronauts since the Apollo 17 crew in 1972. Koch and Glover are the first female and first Black astronauts to travel to the Moon, respectively, according to Politico.
The mission, which will conclude with a Pacific splashdown on April 10, marks the first step in NASA’s plans to establish a sustainable Moon base. The agency is aiming for a lunar landing by two astronauts near the Moon’s south pole in 2028. (ANI)
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