NASA has shared the latest update on Artemis II mission and informed that astronauts have reached halfway between the Moon and the a Earth, expected to land in the Pacific Ocean at around 8:07 pm (ET) on Friday, April 10 (around 5:37 am (IST) on Saturday, April 11.)
In an update shared on X titled "They're halfway home", the space agency said, "The Artemis II astronauts have hit the "halfway" mark between the Moon and the Earth. They will splash down in the Pacific Ocean around 8:07 pm ET on Friday, April 10 (0007 UTC on Saturday, April 11), off the coast of San Diego."
Artemis II is a 10 day mission, where a crew of four astronauts ventured around the Moon inside the agency's Orion spacecraft. The crew recently set the new record for human spaceflight after travelling farthest from Earth during a test flight around the Moon, NASA said on their website on Tuesday.
NASA's Orion spacecraft began its journey to the Moon following a successful April 1 launch on an SLS (Space Launch System) rocket from the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
How To Track Artemis II Mission Spacecraft?
People around the world can track Orion during its journey using the Artemis Real-time Orbit Website (AROW). Access to AROW is available on NASA's website (www.nasa.gov/trackartemis) and NASA app (www.nasa.gov/nasa-app).
The crew made history at 12:56 pm CDT, i.e. 11:26 pm IST, Monday, April 6, travelling 248,655 miles (nearly 4,00,171 km) from Earth, surpassing the record for human spaceflight's farthest distance previously set by the Apollo 13 mission in 1970.
"At its farthest point, crew inside the Orion spacecraft will have travelled about 252,756 miles (around 4,06,771 km), before looping back toward our home planet, setting the new record for human spaceflight," the space agency said in a release on April 6.
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Along with their spaceflight record, crew suggested naming two craters on the Moon during their flight. The first crater is named in on their spacecraft, Integrity, while the second one to honur NASA Astronaut and Artemis II crew member Reid Wiseman's late wife, Carroll.
After the mission is complete, these name proposals will be formally submitted to the International Astronomical Union, the organisation that governs the naming of celestial bodies and their surface features.
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