The team on NASA’s groundbreaking Artemis II mission has disclosed an emergency alert they received upon passing the critical ‘point of no return’ during their significant journey to the Moon. Four astronauts – Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Jeremy Hansen – have been in space for three days aboard the Orion spacecraft and are scheduled to reach the Moon on Monday, covering a record distance of approximately 252,799 miles from Earth.
Assisted by specialists in Houston, Texas, and a radar station near Helston, Cornwall, the mission marks the first manned lunar orbit in over fifty years. The spacecraft Orion is being propelled towards the Moon through an engine burn to exit Earth’s orbit. However, shortly after the burn, the crew received an alarming cabin leak warning, prompting concerns about potential cancellation of the burn and evacuation scenarios.
Fortunately, subsequent checks confirmed the warning as a false alarm, with the cabin pressure remaining stable. Additionally, an earlier issue with the ship’s toilet has been resolved. NASA recently shared captivating images of Earth captured by the crew inside the spacecraft, showcasing the beauty of our planet from space.
The crew, currently more than 110,000 miles away from Earth, is expected to circle the Moon after covering another 150,000 miles before reaching their destination on Monday. During their journey to the Moon’s far side, they will experience a communication blackout with Earth for about 40 minutes. The Artemis mission aims to test technologies essential for future manned missions to Mars, with plans for astronauts to land on the Moon’s surface in the coming years.
NASA targets a crew return to the lunar surface by 2028, while China plans to do so around 2030. The last Moon landing by astronauts occurred during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
