NASA's Artemis II astronauts are approaching one of the mission's most dramatic milestones: a historic flyby of the Moon's far side on Monday that will leave the crew completely out of contact with Earth for roughly 40 minutes. During this interval, the Orion spacecraft will operate autonomously while the Moon blocks all radio signals, testing both the spacecraft's systems and the astronauts' ability to manage deep-space operations without guidance from mission control. This marks the first time humans will travel beyond low Earth orbit in over 50 years, capturing attention worldwide.
