What happened
NASA’s Artemis II mission launched from Kennedy Space Center on 1 April carrying four astronauts on a 10-day lunar flyby. As of Saturday, the crew is on Flight Day 5 in deep space, approaching the Moon.
The crew: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency.
Why it matters: This is the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in December 1972, a gap of 53 years. Glover is the first Black astronaut, Koch the first woman, and Hansen the first non-American to travel toward the Moon.
The mission
The spacecraft will reach a maximum distance of 252,757 miles from Earth, breaking Apollo 13’s record by 4,102 miles. The lunar flyby is scheduled for Monday, with a six-hour window for the crew to photograph and observe the far side of the Moon.
This is the second flight of the Space Launch System rocket and the first crewed flight of the Orion spacecraft. Splashdown is expected in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego on 11 April.
What happens next
If successful, Artemis III, planned for 2028, will attempt the first crewed Moon landing since 1972. Canada contributed the service module and other hardware, making the mission an international collaboration.