Artemis II crew enters moon’s gravitational grip ahead of historic flyby

Nasa’s Orion capsule will be just over 4,000 miles above lunar surface, allowing astronauts to see both poles

The four astronauts on Nasa’s Artemis II mission are poised to begin the first flyby of the far side of the moon in more than half a century, bringing them to the furthest point from Earth ever reached by humans.

The crew of three Americans and one Canadian earlier entered the moon’s “sphere of influence”, where its gravity has a stronger pull on the spacecraft than Earth’s.