The four astronauts aboard Artemis II have crossed the halfway point between Earth and the Moon, NASA confirmed on Friday, marking a major milestone in their historic journey.
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Mission control informed the crew that they were now closer to the Moon than to Earth, prompting excitement among the astronauts. “We can see the Moon out of the docking hatch right now, it is a beautiful sight,” said astronaut Christina Koch during a live broadcast.
The milestone was reached approximately two days, five hours, and 24 minutes after liftoff. NASA’s tracking data showed the Orion spacecraft had travelled more than 219,000 kilometres from Earth.
The crew — Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, Koch, and Jeremy Hansen — are currently on a “free-return” trajectory. This path uses the Moon’s gravity to loop the spacecraft around it before sending it back toward Earth without the need for additional propulsion.
The next key milestone will be entering the Moon’s gravitational sphere of influence, expected on the fifth day of the mission.
The Artemis II mission is a crucial step in NASA’s broader plan to return humans to the lunar surface and establish a sustained presence on and around the Moon in the coming years.
