Artemis II astronauts expected to reach far side of moon on Monday

Nasa team get deeper into space than any humans have ever ventured Astronauts on the historic Artemis II mission are expected to reach the far side of the moon on Monday, venturing deeper into space than any humans before. Nasa has reported satisfaction with progress toward the lunar fly-round since the team’s launch on Wednesday, with the three Americans and one Canadian on course to break the record for maximum range from Earth just as a total solar eclipse awaits. “The Earth is quite small, and the moon is definitely getting bigger,” the pilot Victor Glover reported after Artemis fired a key thruster to exit Earth’s orbit. The crew are the first astronauts bound for the moon in more than half a century, picking up where the Apollo programme left off in 1972. While the mission is already sending back valuable data and images, the crew have reported persistent problems with one of the Orion capsule’s most crucial pieces of equipment: the toilet. Until the lunar loo is fixed, mission control has instructed the astronauts to continue using backup urine collection bags. The commode malfunctioned after Wednesday’s liftoff and has only been working sporadically since then. Engineers su