Artemis 2 Astronauts observed the "Grand Canyon" on the Moon

The astronauts of the Artemis 2 mission have seen views of the moon never before seen by the human eye, crew members announced as their Orion spacecraft crossed two-thirds of the way to its long-awaited flyby of the moon.

When the astronauts went to sleep on Sunday morning, concluding the fourth day of their 10-day mission, they were nearly 322 thousand kilometres from Earth and 132 thousand kilometres from the Moon.

The US space agency NASA has released a photo taken by the crew of the Artemis 2 mission showing the distant moon with the Orientale basin visible.

"This mission is the first time the human eye has glimpsed the entire region," NASA said. This huge crater was previously captured by the orbiter's camera. Astronaut Christina Koch said the crew was most excited to see this basin, also called the "Grand Canyon" of the moon.

Another major milestone is expected on the night of Sunday to Monday, when the astronauts will enter the "lunar sphere of influence", where the moon's gravitational force will act on the spacecraft more strongly than Earth's, AFP explains. If all goes well and the Orion spacecraft orbits the moon, the astronauts will break a record and get further than any man before them.

(tasr, mja)