Artemis Spacecraft Crew Enters Day Four

Commander Reid Wiseman says looking back at Earth is a truly remarkable sight.

In short:

The Artemis II crew prepares for their historic flyby of the Moon on day six of the mission.

Today, on day four, one of the astronauts will take manual control of the spacecraft to test its performance.

But the toilet has started to play up again.

The Artemis astronauts are gearing up for their long-anticipated lunar flyby, including reviewing the surface features they must analyse and photograph during their time circling the Moon.

Morale is high on board, Commander Reid Wiseman told Houston's Mission Control Center, as the crew's new work day began.

The next major milestone of the approximately 10-day journey is expected on day six, at which point the astronauts will enter the lunar sphere of influence, when the Moon's gravity will have a stronger pull on the spacecraft than Earth's.

A view of the Moon taken through the window of the Orion spacecraft.

If all proceeds smoothly, as Orion whips around the Moon, the astronauts could set a record by venturing farther from Earth than any human before.

The astronauts kicked off day four with a meal that included scrambled eggs and coffee, NASA said, and were woken up to the tune of Chappell Roan's Pink Pony Club.

Commander Wiseman along with fellow Americans Christina Koch and Victor Glover as well as Canadian Jeremy Hansen are on a historic journey around the Moon, which they are soon due to slingshot around.

It is a feat Commander Wiseman has dubbed Herculean and which humanity has not accomplished in more than half a century.

Later on day four, Glover was due to take manual control of the spacecraft to test its performance in deep space.

NASA astronaut Christina Koch is illuminated by a screen inside the darkened Orion spacecraft.

After that, the crew was planning to go over their checklist for documenting their experience travelling around the Moon.

The astronauts have had geology training in order to be able to photograph and describe lunar features, including ancient lava flows and impact craters.

Over 50 years ago, the Apollo missions took humanity to the Moon. Now with Artemis, a new generation is about to be launched. What has changed — and not changed — between then and now might surprise you.

They will see the Moon from a unique vantage point compared with the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 70s.

Apollo flights flew some 70 miles above the lunar surface, but the Artemis 2 crew will be just over 4,000 miles at their closest approach, which will allow them to see the complete, circular surface of the Moon, including regions near both poles.

On the downside, their toilet has been on the blink again.

The Orion capsule's bathroom malfunctioned following lift-off and has been hit-and-miss ever since.

Engineers suspect ice may be blocking the line that is preventing urine from completely flushing overboard.

Until the issue is fixed, NASA has instructed the astronauts to break out more of the backup urine collection bags.

Commander Reid has also told mission control that morale was high and views of the Earth were remarkable.

And he noted the days were blurring together for the astronauts.

We heard a rumour up here that it is actually Saturday back on Earth, he said.

We have definitely lost track of the days.

AFP/AP