Artemis II Mission: Astronauts nearly halfway to the moon, NASA says

NASA's Artemis II mission lifted off on April 1 at 6:35 p.m. ET from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The trip will pave the way for future Artemis missions intended to eventually see astronauts set foot on the moon, and the building of a permanent lunar base.

The Artemis II crew was nearly halfway to the moon on Day 3 of the historic mission, NASA said in an update Friday evening.

The crew aboard the Orion spacecraft will take a 685,000-mile journey around the moon, also known as a lunar fly-by, during which they will conduct scientific observations of the moon's surface, NASA said.

On Saturday, the crew will take a selfie of the spacecraft and test some thruster flight modes on Orion.

On Monday, during the six-hour lunar observation period when the crew is on the far side of the moon, the astronauts will be at their closest approach to the lunar surface.

They will be making visual observations as well as photographs and video. The observation period will begin at around 2:30 p.m. ET, NASA said.

The blackout period, when the crew is behind the moon and loses communications with Mission Control, is expected to last about 40 minutes.

When asked if there is reason to worry about the astronauts when they are behind the moon and out of contact with Earth, Judd Frieling, Artemis flight director, said, "Physics takes over and physics will absolutely get us back to the front side of the moon."