Artemis II crosses moon’s ‘sphere of influence’ ahead of historic lunar flyby

WASHINGTON: The four astronauts aboard NASA's Artemis II mission have now crossed into the moon's "sphere of influence," a region where the moon's gravitational pull becomes stronger than that of Earth.

This transition occurred four days, six hours, and two minutes after launch, at a distance of roughly 39,000 miles (62,800 km) from the moon and about 232,000 miles (373,400 km) from Earth. The crew is now approaching their next major milestone: a journey to the far side of the moon scheduled for later on Monday, where they will travel farther into space than any humans have gone before.

Lori Glaze, NASA's deputy associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development, said on Sunday that excitement is building ahead of the upcoming maneuver. She noted that both the flight operations and science teams are fully prepared for what will be the first crewed lunar flyby in over five decades. (Agencies)

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