HOUSTON: Artemis II astronauts expressed awe on Saturday over their record-setting lunar flyby mission, urging unity on Earth after witnessing the planet&#39;s isolation like a &quot;lifeboat&quot; in space.&nbsp;The crew spoke at a news conference as NASA took a victory lap following the success of the mission.&nbsp;The astronauts did the first slingshot around the Moon in more than 50 years and traveled deeper into space than any humans before -- culminating in a smooth splashdown Friday off the coast of California.&nbsp;Flanked on stage by mission commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Jeremy Hansen, astronaut Christina Koch called for people on Earth to embrace their shared humanity.&nbsp;&quot;What struck me wasn&#39;t necessarily just Earth, it was all the blackness around it. Earth was just this lifeboat hanging undisturbingly in the universe,&quot; said Koch.&nbsp;&quot;There&#39;s one new thing I know and that is: Planet Earth -- you are a crew.&quot;&nbsp;Hansen called on fans of the Artemis mission to see themselves in the crew of four, who marked a series of milestones: Glover was the first person of color to fly around the Moon, Koch was the first woman, and Canadian Hansen the first non-American.&nbsp;&quot;I would suggest to you that when you look up here, you&#39;re not looking at us. We are a mirror reflecting you,&quot; Hansen said.&nbsp;&quot;And if you like what you see, then just look a little deeper. This is you.&quot;&nbsp;While hurtling through deep space and zipping around the Moon, the Artemis astronauts took thousands of photographs, amassing a stunning portfolio of images.&nbsp;They also witnessed a solar eclipse along with extraordinary meteorite strikes on the lunar surface.&nbsp;&quot;Artemis II will always be remembered. It was the moment we all saw the moon again, where childhood dreams became missions. You helped the world start believing again, and this is something no one&#39;s ever going to forget,&quot; NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said.&nbsp;Artemis II was the inaugural crewed mission of NASA&#39;s program aiming to install a sustained presence on the Moon, including the eventual construction of a base that could be used for further exploration including to Mars.&nbsp;NASA is hoping it can put boots on the lunar surface as soon as 2028.

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Artemis II astronauts praised Earth as a fragile “lifeboat” after their historic lunar flyby, urging unity. The mission set milestones, captured stunning images, and marked a key step toward NASA’s goal of returning humans to the Moon by 2028.

 Artemis crew urges unity on 'lifeboat' Earth

SAN DIEGO:&nbsp;The NASA spacecraft carrying four astronauts splashed down as planned Friday off the California coast, capping the US space agency&#39;s successful crewed test mission around the Moon, the first such flyby in more than 50 years.&nbsp;Mission commander Reid Wiseman reported that the crewmembers -- himself along with Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Jeremy Hansen -- were &quot;stable&quot; and &quot;green.&quot;&nbsp;&quot;They&#39;re in great condition, that&#39;s what that means,&quot; said Rob Navias, the NASA public affairs official who narrated their return on the agency&#39;s livestream.&nbsp;Following a brief but nerve-wracking communications blackout during their high-stakes re-entry, mission commander Wiseman&#39;s voice triggered relief that the astronauts were well on their way back home.&nbsp;&quot;Houston. Integrity. We have you loud and clear,&quot; he said following a voice check from mission control.&nbsp;NASA and the US military will now help them leave the bobbing capsule, after which they will be flown to a recovery ship off the Pacific coast near San Diego.&nbsp;As the astronauts returned to Earth their spacecraft reached maximum speeds more than 30 times the speed of sound, and faced searing temperatures around half as hot as the surface of the Sun. It was a key test of their heat shield, which in an earlier trial mission had faced complications.&nbsp;But the Artemis II re-entry went off without a hitch.&nbsp;&quot;This was a textbook entry and a textbook touchdown,&quot; said Navias.

NASA’s Artemis II astronauts re-entered Earth’s atmosphere after a 10-day Moon mission, testing their heat shield. The crew experienced a brief communication blackout before an expected splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

Artemis II astronauts return to Earth, capping historic Moon mission

HOUSTON: The four astronauts embarking on NASA&#39;s lunar flyby became on Monday the humans to travel furthest from our planet, as they get set to view areas of the Moon never before seen by the naked eye. The Artemis II team broke the previous record set by 1970&#39;s Apollo 13 mission, which they are expected to surpass by approximately 4,105 miles (6,606 kilometers) when they reach this journey&#39;s furthest distance from Earth -- 252,760 miles (406,778 kilometers) -- later today. The astronauts are journeying around the Moon for a monumental flyby, in which they&#39;ll spend more than six hours analyzing and documenting lunar surface features. The NASA mission had swept earlier into the Moon&#39;s gravitational sphere of influence, meaning their spacecraft is in the natural satellite&#39;s neighborhood, with lunar gravity outmuscling Earth&#39;s pull. The Orion capsule is zipping around the Moon before U-turning and heading back to Earth in a so-called &quot;free-return trajectory,&quot; a return-trip that will take about four days. The astronauts began their landmark day with a message from the late Jim Lovell, who took part in the Apollo 8 and 13 missions and recorded the message shortly before his death. &quot;It&#39;s a historic day, and I know how busy you&#39;ll be, but don&#39;t forget to enjoy the view,&quot; the Artemis astronauts heard from Lovell. &quot;Welcome to my old neighborhood,&quot; he said. &quot;I&#39;m proud to pass that torch on to you as you swing around the Moon.&quot; Swooping around the far side of the Moon, the crew of four will witness previously hidden lunar territory -- the sphere looming large through their capsule windows. The Moon will appear to the astronauts &quot;about the size of a basketball held at arm&#39;s length,&quot; Noah Petro, head of the US space agency&#39;s planetary geology lab, told AFP. Adding to the historic nature of the mission led by Reid Wiseman, the Artemis II crew includes several firsts. Victor Glover will be the first person of color to fly around the Moon, Christina Koch will be the first woman, and Canadian Jeremy Hansen the first non-American. There will be a period of around 40 minutes during the flyby where all communication with Artemis II will be cut off as the astronauts pass behind the Moon. &quot;It&#39;ll be exciting, you know, in a slightly scary way, when they go behind the moon,&quot; Derek Buzasi, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Chicago, told AFP. Human eye vs cameraThe astronauts have already started seeing features never previously glimpsed directly. An image sent back by the crew showed the Moon&#39;s Orientale basin visible, a massive crater that before had only been viewed by orbiting, uncrewed cameras. Near the end of their flyby, the astronauts will witness a solar eclipse, when the Sun will be behind the Moon. Despite the technological advancements since the Apollo era, NASA still relies on the eyesight of its astronauts to learn more about the Moon. &quot;The human eye is basically the best camera that could ever or will ever exist,&quot; Kelsey Young, the lead scientist for the Artemis II mission, told AFP. &quot;The number of receptors in the human eye far outweighs what a camera is able to do.&quot; And while the Orion crew will still be at a substantial distance from the Moon, their flyby is key to preparing for a later crewed mission to the planet&#39;s surface itself. &quot;We&#39;re going to learn an awful lot about the spacecraft,&quot; NASA administrator Jared Isaacman told CNN on Sunday. The information will be &quot;pretty paramount to set up for subsequent missions like Artemis III in 2027 and, of course, the lunar landing itself on Artemis IV in 2028,&quot; he added.

NASA’s Artemis II crew becomes the farthest-traveling humans from Earth, surpassing Apollo 13 as they conduct a historic flyby of the Moon and observe previously unseen lunar regions.

'Historic day': Artemis astronauts break space distance record

HOUSTON:&nbsp;The Artemis astronauts entered the final phase of their run-up to a lunar loop on Monday, a tipping point of sorts that means the Moon&#39;s gravity is now having a stronger pull on the spacecraft than Earth&#39;s. The Orion capsule will now whip around the Moon, setting the crew up to travel farther from our home planet than any human before. The astronauts entered what NASA calls the lunar sphere of influence about 0442 GMT Monday and will soon record the first lunar flyby since 1972. As they entered the Moon&#39;s gravitational influence, the crew was about 39,000 miles (63,000 kilometers) from the Moon and about 232,000 miles from Earth, a NASA official said on the agency&#39;s livestream of the event. The historic occasion comes alongside a constellation of firsts for the crew of three Americans and one Canadian. Victor Glover will go down in the books as the first person of color to ever fly around the Moon, and Christina Koch will be the first woman. Canadian Jeremy Hansen, meanwhile, will become the first non-American to accomplish the feat. Those three, along with mission commander Reid Wiseman, will spend much of their lunar flyby documenting the Moon. &#39;Far side of the Moon&#39;&nbsp;The astronauts have already started seeing features of the celestial body never before viewed with a naked human eye. In the wee hours of Sunday, NASA published an image taken by the Artemis crew that showed a distant Moon with the Orientale basin visible. &quot;This mission marks the first time the entire basin has been seen with human eyes,&quot; the US space agency said. The massive crater, which resembles a bullseye, had been photographed before by orbiting cameras. Koch, speaking to Canadian children live from space, said the crew was most excited to see the basin -- sometimes known as the Moon&#39;s &quot;Grand Canyon.&quot; &quot;It&#39;s very distinctive and no human eyes previously had seen this crater until today, really, when we were privileged enough to see it,&quot; Koch said during the question-and-answer session hosted by the Canadian Space Agency. Near the end of their flyby, the astronauts will witness a solar eclipse, when the Sun will be behind the Moon and hidden from view aside from its outermost atmosphere, the solar corona. The four astronauts will also spend some time testing their &quot;Orion crew survival system&quot; spacesuits. The orange suits protect the crewmembers during launch and reentry, but are also available for emergency use -- they can provide up to six days of breathable air. The astronauts are the first to ever wear the OCSS suits in space, and will test their functions, including how quickly they can put them on and pressurize them. While the four astronauts will not touch down on the lunar surface, they are expected to break the record for the farthest distance from Earth during their pass around the Moon. Over the next day, &quot;they will be on the far side of the Moon, they will eclipse that record, and we&#39;re going to learn an awful lot about the spacecraft,&quot; NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said Sunday during a televised interview with CNN. The information will be &quot;pretty paramount to set up for subsequent missions like Artemis 3 in 2027 and, of course, the lunar landing itself on Artemis 4 in 2028,&quot; he added. NASA said the Artemis crew has completed a manual piloting demonstration and reviewed their lunar flyby plan, including reviewing the surface features they must analyze and photograph during their time circling the Moon. &quot;We&#39;re focusing very much on the ecosystem, the life support system of the spacecraft,&quot; Isaacman told CNN. &quot;This is the first time astronauts have ever flown on this spacecraft before,&quot; he said. &quot;That&#39;s what we&#39;re most interested in getting data from.&quot;

In this handout image provided by NASA, NASA astronaut and Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows, looking back at Earth, as the crew travels towards the Moon on April 4, 2026. (IN SPACE/

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Former astronaut Charlie Duke, who walked on the Moon in 1972 as part of the Apollo 16 mission, gives ceremonial wakeup call to the crew; the astronauts have entered the final phase of their run-up to a lunar loop called the "lunar sphere of influence," and will soon record the first lunar flyby since 1972.

Artemis mission approaches lunar loop for first flyby since 1972

HOUSTON: As Artemis 2 astronauts forged ahead Friday on their lunar mission, NASA released initial images taken from inside the Orion spacecraft, including a full portrait of Earth featuring its deep blue oceans and billowing clouds. After a flurry of high-stakes activity including a dramatic blast-off and an engine firing that catapulted them on their historic trajectory to circle the Moon, the four astronauts aboard were able to catch their breath, even as they continued to perform a variety of equipment checks and tests. &quot;There has been a tremendous amount of disbelief for me, it&#39;s just so extraordinary,&quot; said Canadian Jeremy Hansen during a Q&amp;A session with press late Thursday. &quot;I really like it up here,&quot; said Hansen, on his first ever journey to space. &quot;The views are extraordinary.&quot; &quot;It&#39;s really fun to be floating around&quot; in zero gravity, he added. &quot;It just makes me feel like a little kid.&quot; Hansen is on the crew with Americans Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman. They are due to loop around the Moon early next week &ndash; a feat not accomplished in more than 50 years. NASA official Lakiesha Hawkins praised the photographs taken by commander Wiseman, calling them &quot;amazing&quot; during a briefing Friday. &quot;We continue to learn all about our spacecraft as we operate it in deep space with crew for the first time,&quot; Hawkins said. &quot;It&#39;s important to remind ourselves of that as we learn a little bit more day by day. &#39;Great spirits&#39; Friday&#39;s to-do list includes a CPR demonstration and medical kit checks, the US space agency said, as well as preparation for the scientific observations they&#39;ll need to document when they are closest to the Moon on day six of their journey. NASA officials reported Friday that all systems were performing well, and that the astronauts were in &quot;great spirits&quot; and had spoken to their families. The next major milestone of the approximately 10-day journey is expected overnight Sunday into Monday, at which point the astronauts will enter the &quot;lunar sphere of influence&quot; &ndash; when the Moon&#39;s gravity will have stronger pull on the spacecraft than Earth&#39;s. If all proceeds smoothly, as Orion whips around the Moon the astronauts could set a record by venturing farther from Earth than any human before. &quot;There is nothing normal about this,&quot; said mission commander Wiseman late Thursday. &quot;Sending four humans 250,000 miles away is a Herculean effort, and we are now just realizing the gravity of that.&quot; The Artemis 2 mission is part of a longer-term plan to repeatedly return to the Moon, with the goal of establishing a permanent lunar base that will offer a platform for further exploration.

This handout picture provided by NASA shows Earth as seen through the Orion spacecraft’s window, photographed by NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, commander of Artemis II, on April 2, 2026, after completing the translunar injection burn. (AFP)

Artemis 2 astronauts, including Canada's Jeremy Hansen, share stunning Earth views from Orion spacecraft en route to loop the Moon—first crewed flyby in more than five decades. 

Artemis 2: 'Extraordinary' views of home as astronauts head towards Moon

UNITED STATES: NASA gave the four Artemis astronauts circling Earth the green light on Thursday to head for the Moon and carry out the first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years.&nbsp;NASA Flight Director Jeff Radigan told the astronauts the mission management team had approved firing up the engine of their Orion capsule to send the spacecraft on a trajectory towards the Moon.&nbsp;The 5min and 49sec burn is scheduled to take place at 7:49 pm Eastern Time (2349 GMT) and send the astronauts out of Earth orbit to begin the three-day voyage toward the Moon, the first since 1972.&nbsp;&quot;Flight controllers will closely monitor engine performance, guidance, and navigation data throughout the maneuver to ensure Orion remains precisely aligned for the outbound journey,&quot; NASA said.&nbsp;The enormous orange-and-white Space Launch System (SLS) rocket carrying the Orion capsule blasted off flawlessly from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday for the long-anticipated journey around the Moon.&nbsp;The astronauts -- Americans Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian Jeremy Hansen -- spent their first hours in space performing checks and troubleshooting minor problems -- including a communications issue and a malfunctioning toilet.&nbsp;Before getting a few hours of sleep, they ignited the spacecraft&#39;s main engine to place it in a high Earth orbit, the US space agency said.&nbsp;&quot;Artemis II astronauts are doing great,&quot; NASA chief Jared Isaacman said in a post on X. &quot;The Orion spacecraft is performing well in an impressive elliptical orbit.&quot;&nbsp;Orion is to loop around the Moon as part of the 10-day Artemis 2 mission aimed at paving the way for a Moon landing in 2028.

NASA approves the Artemis II astronauts to travel toward the Moon, marking the first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years, as their spacecraft begins the journey.

NASA gives Artemis crew green light to head towards Moon

UNITED STATES:&nbsp;&nbsp;Four astronauts launched aboard a massive NASA rocket on Wednesday, embarking on a long-anticipated journey around the Moon. This marks the first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years.&nbsp;With an intense roar that reverberated far beyond the launchpad, the enormous orange-and-white rocket carried three Americans and one Canadian away from Florida&#39;s Kennedy Space Center at approximately 6:35 p.m. local time.&nbsp;During final checks before Artemis 2 was deemed a go for launch, astronauts gave brief words: &quot;We are going for all humanity,&quot; said the Canadian aboard, Jeremy Hansen.&nbsp;Artemis launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson then addressed the astronauts directly.&nbsp;&quot;Reid, Victor, Christina and Jeremy: On this historic mission, you take with you the heart of this Artemis team, the daring spirit of the American people and our partners across the globe, and the hopes and dreams of a new generation. Good luck. God speed Artemis 2. Let&#39;s go,&quot; she said.&nbsp;The team, who donned bright orange suits with blue trim as they blasted off, includes Americans Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Hansen.&nbsp;&quot;We have a beautiful moonrise. We&#39;re headed right at it,&quot; said Wiseman, the mission commander.&nbsp;Shortly after launch, they successfully entered Earth&#39;s orbit, where they will remain while performing various checks to ensure the reliability and safety of a spacecraft that has never carried humans before.&nbsp;They will also test its manual piloting capabilities during docking simulations.&nbsp;If all goes well, they are expected to venture forth on Thursday on a loop around the Moon, which should take about three days.&nbsp;The voyage should last approximately 10 days.&nbsp;&quot;This was amazing,&quot; said Sian Proctor, an American scientist who participated in a 2021 space mission and ventured to Florida&#39;s Space Coast, where local authorities said around 400,000 people were watching.&nbsp;&quot;I&#39;m just so happy that we&#39;re going back to the Moon, and everybody should be excited and be following the next 10 days, because this is a big step for humanity,&quot; Proctor said.&nbsp;The flight is to pave the way for a Moon landing in 2028.

NASA's Artemis 2 mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, carrying three Americans and one Canadian on the first crewed lunar flyby in over 50 years.

NASA's Artemis 2 crewed lunar mission takes off

WASHINGTON: NASA on Friday pushed back the earliest date that astronauts could fly to the Moon, due to forecasts of freezing temperatures at the Florida launch site. The earliest window for the moonshot will now be February 8, two days later than originally scheduled. NASA was preparing to conduct a key fueling test over the weekend of the 98-meter rocket that is on the Cape Canaveral launch pad in Florida. But large parts of the United States are grappling with severe winter weather, with Arctic air surging across the country following a deadly winter storm. Florida is not immune: the normally sunny state could experience its lowest temperatures in decades that are forecast to hover around freezing. &quot;The expected weather this weekend would violate launch conditions,&quot; NASA said in a statement. Weather permitting, NASA crews now are aiming to conduct their final tests Monday, after which a launch date will be determined. The change narrows the possibility that NASA can launch their Artemis 2 team of four astronauts on their Moon flyby in February &mdash; just three days of potential windows remain in that month.&nbsp;The team remains in quarantine in Houston, NASA said. Heaters are atop the Orion capsule to ensure it stays warm, the US space agency said, and purging systems are in place and configured for the colder weather to maintain proper conditions. NASA officials are also preparing to launch a crew to the International Space Station, a mission that is being closely coordinated as it is currently planned to happen within days of a potential&nbsp;Artemis 2 launch. The next NASA crew rotation to the ISS could happen as soon as February 11, but depending on the Artemis plans, it could get delayed. &quot;Our teams have worked very carefully to see how we can keep moving towards launch for both missions, while at the same time making sure we avoid any major conflicts,&quot; said Ken Bowersox, an administrator at NASA&#39;s Space Operations Mission Directorate, during a briefing Friday. There&#39;s a possibility that Crew-12 could get some overlapping space time with the Moon team, a prospect that ISS astronauts said Friday they&#39;d enjoy. &quot;If we do launch before Artemis, we&#39;ll be on board the International Space Station, and part of their flight plan actually involves a call to the ISS,&quot; said Jessica Meir, the crew&#39;s commander who said they&#39;d be &quot;excited&quot; to have some intra-space conversation with their colleagues. &quot;We are all thrilled about the launch of Artemis. We are very excited to see how this will all play out.&quot; The Crew-12 team to ISS also includes Sophie Adenot, who will be the second Frenchwoman to fly to space. In another noteworthy tidbit, the new February 8 window for a potential launch to the Moon falls on the same day as the highly watched Super Bowl, the National Football League championship. That launch window would open at 11:20 pm in Florida (0420 GMT on February 9) -- soon after the game would likely wrap.

The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft, integrated for the Artemis II mission, are seen at Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on January 30, 2026 ahead of the first crewed mission to the Moon in m

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NASA delayed the earliest Artemis 2 Moon mission launch to February 8 due to freezing Florida weather, narrowing February launch windows and complicating coordination with upcoming International Space Station crew rotations and schedule uncertainty.

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