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Apr 05, 2026

Artemis II Crew Passes Halfway to the Moon, Shares First Orion Earth Images Ahead of Historic Lunar Flyby

AI Summary
NASA’s Artemis II astronauts have crossed the midpoint of their journey to the Moon, captured the inaugural photos of Earth from inside Orion, and are set to enter the lunar sphere of influence, positioning the mission for a record‑breaking lunar flyby and underscoring NASA’s long‑term plans for a permanent lunar outpost.

NASA announced that the Artemis II crew has now traversed the halfway mark between Earth and the Moon, and the agency released the first photographs of our planet taken from within the Orion capsule.

After completing the fourth day of a ten‑day voyage, the astronauts settled in for a brief rest while the spacecraft hovered roughly 322,000 km (200,000 miles) from Earth and about 132,000 km (82,000 miles) from the lunar surface, according to NASA’s live mission dashboard.

The newly published images showcase Earth as a luminous blue sphere wrapped in swirling cloud patterns, offering a striking perspective from deep space.

Looking ahead, the four‑person team is slated to perform a swing‑by of the Moon’s far side early next week – a maneuver that has not been attempted by a crewed vehicle in more than five decades.

The next critical checkpoint arrives overnight from Sunday into Monday (U.S. time), when Orion is expected to enter the “lunar sphere of influence,” the point where the Moon’s gravity overtakes Earth’s pull on the spacecraft.

If the trajectory proceeds as planned, the mission will place the astronauts at a greater distance from Earth than any human has ever traveled, setting a new record for deep‑space human flight.

Artemis II forms a cornerstone of NASA’s broader strategy to re‑establish a regular human presence on the Moon, ultimately building a permanent base that could serve as a launchpad for future missions to Mars and beyond.