Artemis 2 hits Earth/moon midpoint on its way home

Source: Space.com

“The Artemis 2 astronauts have hit the midway point in their journey back to Earth from the moon, according to NASA. The quartet — NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover Christina Koch and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen — remain on track arrive at their home planet on Friday evening (April 10). … Orion’s return trajectory plan for Artemis 2 was altered after the heat shield on Artemis 1 experienced unexpected char and material losses during atmospheric reentry. Now, rather than hitting the atmosphere head-on, Orion will perform what’s called a ‘lofted’ reentry, dipping down into the atmosphere briefly, before delving back down for its final descent — similar to a stone skipping once across a pond before sinking beneath the water.” (04/09/26)

https://www.space.com/news/live/artemis-2-nasa-moon-mission-updates-april-9-2026