Visualization of the Artemis 2 Orion capsule approaching the moon, shortly before it entered lunar space in the early-morning hours of April 6, 2026. (Image credit: NASA) Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Get the Space.com Newsletter Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!
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An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletterFor the first time in more than 50 years, humans are cruising through lunar space.
The four astronauts of NASA's Artemis 2 mission arrived in the moon's sphere of influence — the region where lunar gravity exerts a more powerful pull than that of Earth — today (April 6) at 12:37 a.m. EDT (0437 GMT).
The Artemis 2 astronauts — NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and the Canadian Space Agency's Jeremy Hansen — are the first people to cross the lunar threshold since December 1972, when the three-person Apollo 17 moon-landing mission did so.
Artemis 2 will not touch down on the moon, or even enter lunar orbit. Rather, Orion will loop around the moon's far side this evening in a history-making flyby. During that encounter, Artemis 2 will get farther from Earth than any crewed flight ever has.
The distance record is currently held by the Apollo 13 astronauts, who got 248,655 miles (400,171 km) from our planet in April 1970. At the height of tonight's flyby, just after 7 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT), Artemis 2 will be 252,757 miles (406,773 km) away from the rest of humanity, NASA officials have said.
The Artemis 2 astronauts will study the moon during the flyby, gathering data that could help scientists better understand the terrain and geology of Earth's nearest neighbor. They'll also be treated to a total solar eclipse, which will not be visible to those of us here on terra firma.
Get the Space.com NewsletterContact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsIn addition, the flyby will chart their path home: Lunar gravity will slingshot Orion back toward Earth. Artemis 2 astronauts will come home on Friday (April 10), ending their 10-day mission with a parachute-aided splashdown off the coast of San Diego.
Editor's note: This story was updated at 1:15 a.m. EDT on April 6 with NASA's revised time of Orion's entry into the moon's sphere of influence — 12:37 a.m. EDT rather than 12:41 a.m. EDT.
Mike WallSpaceflight and Tech EditorMichael Wall is the Spaceflight and Tech Editor for Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers human and robotic spaceflight, military space, and exoplanets, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.
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