Astronauts heading to the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years are currently more than 100,000 miles (160,930 kilometres) from Earth and in “good spirits”, according to Nasa officials.
Giving an update on the 10-day Artemis II mission, agency executives said the crew had a further 150,000 miles (241,400 kilometres) to travel to reach their destination for a lunar flyby that will take them deeper into space than anyone has gone before.
The elite team of three Americans and one Canadian, who launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Wednesday evening, earlier in the day cleared Earth orbit.
The Orion spacecraft is now on a trajectory that will take it around the Moon and then use the natural satellite’s gravity for a “free” return journey.
The Goonhilly Earth Station, near Helston, in Cornwall, is helping to track the flight.
As the module passes some 4,000 miles beyond the far side of the Moon, the crew will lose communication with the Earth for around 40 minutes.
The mission is testing technologies needed for long-term lunar exploration and manned voyages to Mars.
One of the tasks carried out by the astronauts has been measuring how loud the toilet was after previous issues were fixed.
Speaking at a news conference, Lakiesha Hawkins, Nasa’s acting deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development, said: “The mission continues to perform well overall, and the crew is in great spirits.
“Currently, the crew is more than 100,000 miles from the Earth and about 150,000 miles to go away from the Moon.”
Referring to one of the spectacular images of the Earth taken from the capsule by mission commander Reid Wiseman, she said: “It’s great to think that, with the exception of our four friends, all of us are represented in this image.”
She added: “We continue to learn all about our spacecraft as we operate in deep space with crew for the first time, and it’s important to remind ourselves of that as we learn a little bit more day by day.”
Giving details of the crews activities, Judd Frieling, Artemis II ascent flight director, said: “This morning, when the crew woke up, they had their normal planning conferences, and then they were able to do their family conferences so they have talked to their families.
“And they also did another noise characterisation of how loud the toilet was. So we performed that.”
Highlighting the importance of the test flight, Howard Hu, Orion programme manager said: “When we talk about wanting to have a Moon base, wanting to have people on the surface of the Moon or other planets you need a way to transport people safely to that particular domain.
“To me it’s very important that we do everything we can to understand and provide that capability in a robust and reliable way.
“You have to walk before you can run and I think this is very important in our step towards exploration.”
While the astronauts will not touch down on the Moon, the Artemis II mission paves the way for a future lunar landing and also lays the foundation to send a crew to Mars.
The mission previously had to be postponed by two months because of hydrogen fuel leaks and clogged helium lines.
The last time Nasa sent astronauts to the Moon was as part of the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
The agency is seeking to return a crew to the lunar surface by 2028, before China does in about 2030.
