As the Artemis II lunar mission entered its third day on Friday, the four crew members—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen—found themselves with a bit of downtime. This allowed them to connect with their loved ones at length, as well as participate in media events.

Medical conferences were held with physicians back in Houston, but these checks were routine; according to Lakiesha Hawkins, a senior exploration official at NASA, none of the crew members were experiencing space adaptation sickness. Instead, they had time for some celestial photography, with Commander Wiseman sending an especially spectacular image that captured our planet’s night side, complete with two auroras and zodiacal light.

The mission's engine firing on Thursday evening placed Orion on course for a lunar flyby, setting the stage for their closest approach Monday afternoon. They will return to Earth on April 10 by splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off Southern California.

“They are in great spirits,” said Hawkins during a Friday afternoon press conference. The crew’s busy schedule leading up to this critical engine firing underscored the precision and complexity of their mission, while also highlighting the human side of space travel – families to call home and stunning images to share with those back on Earth.