Artemis II Lunar Flyby LIVE Updates: Astronauts enter moon's ‘sphere of influence’, flyby to begin at 11 pm

Artemis II Lunar Flyby LIVE Updates: The four astronauts of NASA's Artemis II – Mission commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency – onboard the Orion, have entered the the moon's gravitational “sphere of influence” and will begin their lunar flyby at around 11 pm IST. The Artemis II lunar flyby will take them to over the shadowed, farthest side of the moon.

By 5:35 am India time, the astronauts will reach the mission's maximum distance from Earth of roughly 252,757 miles, 4,102 miles beyond the record held by the Apollo 13 crew for 56 years. Stay tuned for Artemis II flyby LIVE Updates.

Meet The Artemis II Crew

The astronauts – including three Americans and one Canadian – who are running the Artemis II flyby are Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada's Jeremy Hansen.

Artemis II uses a "Free-Return Trajectory." This means lunar gravity acts like a natural bungee cord, pulling Orion around and flinging it back to Earth without needing a massive engine burn.

The crew will reach a maximum distance of 252,760 miles from Earth – about 4,105 miles further than Apollo 13.

The crew celebrated Flight Day 5 (yesterday) by hiding "dehydrated scrambled eggs" around the cabin for an Easter egg hunt!

When would the lunar observation begin?

The lunar observation will begin at 11 pm India time.

NASA Live Coverage

The Artemis II flyby will be broadcast LIVE by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa). The event will be run on YouTube, Amazon and Netflix.

Watch it here