Nasa’s ArtemisII astronauts have crossed the “two thirds” mark of their journey to the Moon and are preparing for a historic lunar fly-around, even as a recurring toilet malfunction inside the Orion capsule continues to pose challenges.
Orion is moving at 1536 km/h, 356 379 km from Earth and 89 967 km from the Moon.
The Artemis II astronauts will go through the most tense moment of the mission on April 6, 2026. This is the highlight of the entire mission. The Orion will pass between 6,400 and 9,600 kilometers above the lunar surface.
But there's a detail that makes this moment even more intense: as it passes over the far side of the Moon, the spacecraft will lose communication with Earth for about 30 to 50 minutes, blocked by the Moon itself.
"For the 45 minutes when we'll be closest to the lunar surface, we'll also be out of contact," said Victor Glover, the mission's pilot.
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