Artemis II astronauts leave lunar influence and head towards Earth
NASA's Artemis II mission astronauts left the Moon's influence on Tuesday and are heading towards Earth, where they are scheduled to splash down on Friday, after becoming the first humans to orbit the satellite in more than half a century. This moment occurs as the Orion capsule carrying the four crew members - Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, and Victor Glover from NASA, and Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency - transitions from being more strongly influenced by the Moon to being dominated by Earth's gravity.
TL;DR
- Artemis II astronauts are heading back to Earth after orbiting the Moon, with a planned splashdown on Friday.
- This mission marks the first human lunar orbit since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
- The Orion capsule flew around the Moon for seven hours, taking photos and observing its surface.
- The mission set a record for the farthest distance a crewed mission has traveled from Earth.
- Artemis II is part of a program aiming for lunar landings by 2028 and future Mars exploration.