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Artemis II crosses two‑thirds of transit, enters lunar space and shares Earth–Moon photos

NASA's Artemis II has passed the two‑thirds point of its free‑return transit and officially entered lunar space, marking the first humans near the Moon since 1972. The crew rehearsed safety procedures ahead of a planned communications blackout during closest approach and released new Earth and Moon images.

Discovered 2026-04-05T15:39:34.765142-07:00 | 2026-04-05T15:39:34.765142-07:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

  • The mission milestone confirms the success of Artemis II's translunar injection and free‑return profile, keeping the flight on track to validate deep‑space crewed operations (see the translunar injection update) [source:8a5c522d-f2c3-438c-b740-b2bc25e5ac72].

  • This is the first crewed return to the lunar neighborhood in decades and provides in‑flight validation of Orion/SLS systems and procedures that underpin future Artemis surface missions and program momentum [source:1071d55a-f44a-40a2-a69e-38637da17fa6].

  • Crew safety rehearsals for planned loss of communications and the release of crew photos demonstrate operational readiness and public transparency as NASA advances end‑to‑end mission protocols for beyond‑LEO human flights [source:96dad9c0-8457-4e1e-986f-b0c271566576].

Reported By

Politico en.clickpetroleoegas.com.br Reuters The Verge the-independent.com The Independent
Sources Tracked
67
First Seen
2026-04-05T15:39:34.765142-07:00
Latest Update
2026-04-12T20:01:17.615076-07:00
Coverage
Space

Sources

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