The Artemis II astronauts have completed their record-breaking trip around the moon. Monday’s lunar journey comes after Artemis II surpassed Apollo 13’s distance record. During the flyby, the three Americans and one Canadian were treated to never-before-seen views of the moon’s far side by eye and also a solar eclipse. The crew temporarily lost contact with Mission Control as they swung behind the moon without stopping. They’re now on a path back toward Earth with a splashdown return set for Friday. More activities are planned before then including a phone call with the International Space Station.

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.

For generations, human beings have wondered: What would alien life from another planet be like? But we rarely ask the opposite: What would they think of us? Theoretical physicist Avi Loeb says that due to how humans treat one another, visitors from other planets might be disappointed at what they find here. The debate on whether little green men or UFOs are among us heated up in February when former President Barack Obama responding to podcaster’s question, said aliens are “real,” but he ”hasn’t seen them” and “they’re not being kept at Area 51.” Not to be outdone, President Donald Trump later announced on social media that he was directing release of government files because of “tremendous interest.”

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.

NASA’s Artemis II astronauts have fired their engines and are blazing toward the moon. The so-called translunar ignition came 25 hours after liftoff, putting the three Americans and one Canadian on course for a lunar fly-around early next week. Their Orion capsule has bolted out of orbit around Earth and chased after the moon nearly 250,000 miles away. It is the first engine firing for a moon crew since Apollo 17 set out on that era’s final moonshot in 1972. NASA had the Artemis II crew stick close to home for a day to test their capsule’s life-support systems before clearing them for lunar departure.

Four astronauts have embarked on a high-stakes flight around the moon, humanity’s first lunar voyage in more than half a century. It’s the thrilling leadoff in NASA’s push toward a lunar landing in two years. The 32-story moon rocket blasted off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center Wednesday evening, carrying three Americans and one Canadian. The Artemis II crew will spend a day in orbit around Earth checking their capsule before firing the main engine that will propel them to the moon. The nearly 10-day mission will see them fly around the moon and set a distance record, before coming straight back home.

It's humanity's first flight to the moon since 1972. In a throwback to Apollo, NASA's Artemis II mission will send four astronauts on a lunar fly-around. Three Americans and a Canadian will launch into orbit around Earth and then head for the moon. They'll hurtle several thousand miles beyond the moon, hang a U-turn and then come straight back during the nearly 10-day mission. The Artemis launch will begin at Florida's Kennedy Space Center where the Apollo moonshots did. The mission will end with a splashdown homecoming into the Pacific.