There has been great interest in the NASA expedition Artemis 2, which took a trip around the moon with the Orion spacecraft.
During a few intense hours on the mission's sixth day, on Tuesday, history was made - as the craft passed the far side of the moon and the crew broke the record for the farthest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth (approximately 406,800 kilometers).
Now the astronauts are on their way back to Earth.
At 2 a.m. local time in Sweden, they are expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego.
Tested the entire procedure
Jonas Appelberg, communications officer at the Swedish Space Agency, tells TT that the four astronauts bring with them enormously important experience for future missions.
"To a large extent, this has been a test flight for Artemis 4 in 2028," he says.
"They have tested the entire Orion capsule and the rocket, the whole procedure from start to finish. They tested the navigation system, food, water and the toilet. Also the angles at which you move toward the Moon and back home, and the radio blackout when they went around the Moon. It was important to make sure the craft stayed on course."
Appelberg sees the expedition as a journey of inspiration.
"It's the first time since 1972 that people have gone near the Moon, and they've been farther from Earth than humans have ever been before. It's a record and a cool thing."
“Scientific data”
NASA has released astonishing images of Earth taken by astronauts.
"These are really nice pictures. But they've also taken scientific pictures; they photographed two specific craters on the Moon. So there has been scientific data on board. They have also observed a solar eclipse," says Jonas Appelberg.
Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen have been aboard Orion for a total of ten days.
