With NASA's lunar comeback a galactic-sized smash, the space agency already has the next Artemis flight in its sights. In a mission recently tacked on for next year, Artemis III’s yet-to-be -named crew will practice docking their Orion capsule with a lunar lander in orbit around Earth. Then it will be on to Artemis IV's astronaut moon landing in 2028. NASA threw a Texas-sized welcome home party in Houston on Saturday for the four Artemis II astronauts who flew around the moon last week. The three Americans and one Canadian returned to Earth on Friday to close out humanity's first lunar voyage in more than a half-century.

The first astronauts to visit the moon in more than a half-century are home. Artemis II’s crew of four emerged from their lunar capsule after a splashdown in the Pacific on Friday evening and were flown by helicopter to the Navy’s recovery ship. The three Americans and one Canadian set a distance record for space travel during their lunar flyby, surpassing NASA’s Apollo 13. Artemis II’s astronauts didn’t land on the moon or even orbit it. Instead, they ducked behind the moon’s far side and captured views never before seen by the human eye, along with a total solar eclipse. A finicky toilet seems to have been their biggest problem in space.

A Frontier Airlines jet nearly collided with two trucks that crossed in front of it Wednesday night at Los Angeles International Airport. But unlike last month’s deadly crash in New York while a plane was landing, this incident happened on a taxiway while the plane was moving slowly and no one was hurt. The Frontier pilot was alarmed and used an expletive as he told the tower he had to slam on the brakes to avoid a collision. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating what happened. Aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo said close calls like the one in Los Angeles happen every day but usually don't get attention because a collision is avoided.

Air travelers are facing a new reality of higher fees, fewer flights and tough choices about whether a trip is worth the cost. The culprit is volatile oil and jet fuel prices that have been swinging since the war in the Middle East started and fighting near the Strait of Hormuz disrupted global oil shipments. Airlines around the world are responding by trimming schedules and raising fees and fares. Experts say budget carriers and the customers who rely on them will feel the pinch first, but even business travelers and front-cabin passengers won’t escape higher costs. Relief may not come quickly even if oil prices start to drop, experts warn, because airlines can take months to adjust fares while they wait for energy markets to stabilize.

The Artemis II astronauts are chatting it up with their friends aboard the International Space Station. Still aglow from their triumphant lunar flyby, the three Americans and one Canadian put in a call to their station colleagues Tuesday while heading home from the moon. It's the first such moonship-to-spaceship radio linkup ever. “We have been waiting for this like you can’t imagine,” the commander Reid Wiseman said. NASA's Apollo moonshots had no off-the-planet company back in the 1960s and 1970s. For Artemis II's Christina Koch and the station's Jessica Meir, it was a joyous space reunion despite being 230,000 miles apart. The two teamed up for the world's first all-female spacewalk in 2019.

The Artemis II astronauts are more than halfway to the moon. The three Americans and one Canadian will reach their destination Monday, performing a lunar flyby and then coming straight back home. They are the first moonbound crew in more than half a century, picking up where NASA's Apollo program left off. On the downside, their toilet is on the blink again. Until it is fixed, Mission Control has instructed the astronauts to break out more of the backup urine collection bags. The toilet malfunctioned following Wednesday's liftoff and has been hit and miss ever since.

United Airlines is raising checked bag fees starting Friday. The move comes as higher fuel costs ripple through the airline industry. Most travelers flying within the U.S., Mexico, Canada and Latin America will now pay $45 for the first checked bag and $55 for a second. That's $10 more than before the Iran war started Feb. 28. United says it’s their first baggage fee increase in two years. Some customers like loyalty members will still get a free bag. JetBlue also raised fees this week. Airlines say rising crude oil prices are pushing up operating costs. United on Friday also announced a pricing change coming this month for its front cabins. Three new tiers will offer different perks for premium passengers, similar to economy.

The Artemis II astronauts have captured Earth's brilliant blue beauty as they zoom ever closer to the moon. NASA released the crew's first downlinked images Friday, 1 1/2 days into the first astronaut moonshot in more than half a century. The first photo taken by commander Reid Wiseman shows a curved slice of Earth in one of the capsule's windows. The second shows the entire globe with the oceans topped by swirling white tendrils of clouds. It even includes a pale green aurora. As of midday Friday, the crew was 100,000 miles from Earth and quickly gaining on the moon.