Artemis II live updates: NASA's historic moon mission set to make lunar flyby today

NASA’s Artemis II — the first crewed moon mission in more than half a century — is set to make its historic lunar flyby on Monday afternoon.

The four-member crew — NASA commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian space agency mission specialist Jeremy Hansen — entered the so-called lunar sphere of influence early Monday morning. The seven-hour flyby is scheduled to begin around 1:30 p.m. ET.

During their trip around the far side of the moon, they will surpass the record for the farthest distance from Earth traveled by humans, set by Apollo 13 at 248,655 statute miles.

The Artemis II astronauts will take photos and make observations from the Orion spacecraft, which is expected to lose contact with mission control for about 40 minutes as it passes behind the moon. The crew members will also witness a solar eclipse.

The Orion will then be officially on its way back to Earth. The 10-day mission is due to conclude on Friday, when Artemis II makes its reentry before a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.

Follow the latest updates on the Artemis II lunar flyby in the blog below.