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  "path": "/news/artemis-ii-moon-spacecraft-latest",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-04T07:47:58.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Armed security guarding Sadiq Khan leave bag filled with guns outside his home while feral youths terrorised Clapham",
    "SECOND US warplane 'shot down in Persian Gulf' as Americans scramble to rescue missing pilot",
    "Keir Starmer issues Easter message as he urges Britons to 'choose community over division' while promising to work with churches and other faith groups",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nThe Artemis II mission has passed the halfway point of its journey, with the four astronauts aboard hailing “the most moment” in a new interview.\n\nNasa’s online dashboard showed the Orion spacecraft is now more than 136,080 miles from Earth.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe US space agency took to social media to say “we’re halfway there” on Friday.\n\nNasa also released the first images sent from the spacecraft, which marks the first astronaut moon shot in more than 50 years.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe first photo, taken by Commander Reid Wiseman, showed a curved view of the Earth from one of the windows aboard the craft.\n\nAnother showed a full image of the Earth with swirls of clouds covering our oceans.\n\nNasa also stated that a green aurora can be seen glowing in the image.\n\nCommander Wiseman and the three others aboard the historic spacecraft are set to reach the Moon on Monday.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nSpeaking on the newly released images, Nasa’s Lakiesha Hawkins, said: “It’s great to think that with the exception of our four friends, all of us are represented in this image.”\n\nThe crew will fly past the Moon on their journey before U-turning and heading back to Earth without stopping, providing them with unprecedented views of the far side of the Moon.\n\nThe three Americans and one Canadian aboard the spacecraft fired Orion’s main engine on Thursday night to set them on course.\n\nMission control was required to shift the craft's position, leading to Earth filling the windows for all four astronauts to see.\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:\n\n\n\n\n  * Armed security guarding Sadiq Khan leave bag filled with guns outside his home while feral youths terrorised Clapham\n  * SECOND US warplane 'shot down in Persian Gulf' as Americans scramble to rescue missing pilot\n  * Keir Starmer issues Easter message as he urges Britons to 'choose community over division' while promising to work with churches and other faith groups\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n“It was the most spectacular moment, and it paused all four of us in our tracks,” Commander Wiseman said in an interview.\n\nAstronaut Christina Koch added: “There’s nothing that prepares you for the breathtaking aspect of seeing your home planet both lit up bright as day, and also the moon glow on it at night with the beautiful beam of the sunset.”\n\nThe four astronauts are the first to go to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.\n\nOrion is set to travel 4,000 miles beyond the Moon before heading back to Earth.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nIf the Artemis mission goes to plan, they will set the record for venturing further from the Moon than any human has before, at 250,000 miles.\n\nThis mission is just the beginning of a larger programme for Nasa, which aims to repeatedly return to the Moon, with the long-term goal to establish a base on the Moon for wider exploration.\n\nThe Artemis programme has come under pressure from Donald Trump, who is hoping the US will be able to walk on the Moon before the end of his second term in January 2029.\n\nThat deadline is ahead of the schedule set by the Chinese, who are aiming to land humans on the moon by 2030.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n**\n**\n\n**\n**\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Artemis II astronauts soar past halfway point as crew hail 'most spectacular moment’"
}