NASA's Artemis II crew readies for Monday's lunar flyby. Here's what you need to know

Space NASA's Artemis II crew readies for Monday's lunar flyby. Here's what you need to know April 6, 20261:09 AM ET By  Brendan Byrne A photo of NASA's Orion space capsule taken by a remote camera mounted on one of its solar arrays as it sped towards the moon. The four astronauts will loop around the moon on Monday and also venture farther into space than any humans before. NASA via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption NASA via Getty Images The crew of NASA's Artemis II will make its closest approach to the moon Monday afternoon after launching from Kennedy Space Center last week. The Picture Show NASA's Artemis II crew are quite the photographers. See what they've snapped so far It marks a critical milestone of the agency's Orion space capsule, sending humans on a mission to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. As the capsule loops around the moon, the astronauts will reach farther into space than humans have ever ventured. The Orion spacecraft is now in the lunar sphere of influence, meaning the moon's gravity has more pull on the vehicle than the Earth. At 1:46 p.m. ET, the crew will surpass the record for the farthest distance traveled from Earth by humans, which was set by the Apollo 13 mission at 248,655 statute miles from Earth. At 2:45 p.m., the crew will begin making observations of the surface of the moon during the flyby. Sponsor Message As the vehicle circles the far side of the moon, communication back to Earth is expected to be blocked for about 40 minutes. At 7:02 p.m., the crew is expected to have reached the mission's maximum distance from Earth at 252,760 statute miles. The flyby is scheduled to conclude at 9:20 p.m. and then the crew will be on its way home, with a planned splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego, Calif. on Friday at 8:07 p.m. During the Artemis II flyby, the crew will pass over two previous human lunar landing sites — Apollo 12 and 14. Lunar science observations During the lunar flyby, the closest Orio...