Artemis II and its crew aboard the Orion spacecraft are more than halfway to the moon and preparing for a lunar flyby on Monday, NASA said.

Blue Origin and NASA are teaming up on a new mission to protect Earth from asteroids, building on NASA's DART success.

The new Artemis II images — coupled with initial shots of the spacecraft hurtling through Earth's orbit, surrounded by glittering, galactic ice — have rendered much of the public awestruck, feeds flooding over with an overwhelming sense of emotion as the astronauts look back at our home.

Orion and its four-person crew have been orbiting Earth since shortly after launch on Wednesday. Next up, a critical engine burn that will send the astronauts to the moon