Astronauts on Nasa’s Orion capsule made transition about 39,000 miles from the moon, meaning they feel its gravitational pull more strongly than that of the Earth
The four astronauts on Nasa’s Artemis II mission have entered the moon’s “sphere of influence”, where its gravity has a stronger pull on the spacecraft than Earth’s.
The crew made the transition, four days, six hours and two minutes into the mission, when about 39,000 miles (62,800km) from the moon, and 232,000 miles (373,400km) away from the Earth. The next key milestone will be the trip later on Monday to the far side of the moon, venturing deeper into space than any humans before.
“We’re all extremely excited for tomorrow,” Lori Glaze, the deputy associate administrator for Nasa’s Exploration Systems Development Mission, said on Sunday. “Our flight operations team and our science team are ready for the first lunar flyby in more than 50 years.”
The crew are the first astronauts bound for the moon in more than half a century, picking up where the Apollo programme left off in 1972.
