GoKawiilMission Specialist Christina Koch's face is illuminated by the screen of her tablet inside the darkened Orion spacecraft. The lights were off to prevent glare on the windows. Astronaut Jeremy Hansen (right) is looking out one of the craft's windows. NASA/Screenshot by CNET
NASA's historic Artemis II mission enters its fourth day. Late on Friday, the Orion and its crew reached the halfway point between the Earth and the moon. The mission is expected to reach the moon on Monday for a planned flyby, which will also put the astronauts on a path back to Earth. With every minute of travel, the astronauts get farther away from Earth, with the moon growing in size in the spacecraft's windows.
"We can see the moon out of the docking hatch right now. It's a beautiful sight," said Mission Specialist Christina Koch to Mission Control.
On Wednesday, a team of American and Canadian astronauts departed Earth in a 332-foot-tall rocket to do something that humanity hasn't done in more than 50 years: travel to the moon.
The crew is comprised of Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover and Mission Specialists Jeremy Hansen and Koch. It's also a team of many lunar firsts; Glover is the first Black person to be sent to the moon, Hansen is the first Canadian and Koch is the first woman. Artemis II helps set the stage for future missions to the moon, deep space and Mars.
We'll be keeping up with all the latest Artemis II news, so check back here today and throughout next week for updates. Here's everything you need to know about the mission back to the moon.
How to watch the Artemis II moon mission
Takeoff took place on Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. ET / 3:35 p.m. PT from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. While delays are common during launches, especially because of weather, liftoff took place less than 10 minutes after the 2-hour launch window was scheduled to open.
You can watch a replay of the livestream on NASA's YouTube channel, official website and social media accounts. If you're looking for coverage in Spanish, check out NASA's Spanish YouTube channel.
... continue reading