The four astronauts of NASA's Artemis II mission reached the furthest point that any human has been from Earth on Monday, cruising along a path in the Moon's gravitational sphere of influence that will soon take them over the shadowed, lunar far side. ADVERTISEMENT SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENTThe Artemis II crew, flying in their Orion capsule since launching from Florida last week, awoke around 10:50 a.m. ET for their sixth flight day to a recorded message from late Apollo 8 and 13 astronaut Jim Lovell. "It's a historic day, and I know how busy you'll be, but don't forget to enjoy the view... good luck and godspeed." The milestone is a climactic point in the nearly 10-day Artemis II mission, the first crewed test flight of NASA's Artemis program.

Source: The Standard April 06, 2026 20:43 UTC