Artemis II Enters Moon's Sphere of Influence

The Artemis II mission entered the moon's sphere of influence early Monday, marking a significant milestone in NASA's crewed space exploration. The Orion spacecraft reached this gravitational boundary at approximately 12:41 a.m. ET, indicating that the moon's gravity now exerts more force on the capsule than Earth.

The Artemis II mission launched from Florida last Wednesday and took four days, six hours, two minutes, and 54 seconds to reach the lunar sphere of influence. This marks the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972 that a crewed spacecraft has entered this region. The Orion spacecraft is expected to start its flyby of the moon at about 2:45 p.m., with a seven-hour observation period during which the crew will see both the near and far sides of the lunar surface.

The four-person crew, consisting of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, is set to surpass the record for the farthest humans have traveled from Earth. This record was previously held by Apollo 13 in 1970. The spacecraft will reach its closest approach to the moon at approximately 4,000 miles.

During their observations, the crew will be tasked with photographing about 30 lunar surface features, including the Orientale basin, a nearly 600-mile-wide crater that spans the boundary between the moon's near and far sides. The mission is expected to conclude with a splashdown off the coast of San Diego at approximately 8:07 p.m. on Friday.

However, there have been some technical issues reported by Los Angeles Times. The Orion capsule’s toilet has malfunctioned since Wednesday’s liftoff and has been hit-and-miss ever since. Engineers suspect ice may be blocking the line that is preventing urine from completely flushing overboard. Despite this issue, Mission Control has instructed the astronauts to use backup urine collection bags.