The four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft are heading to the Moon after completing the critical engine burn that propels the capsule on its journey.

The NASA crew, which has temporarily lost contact with mission control, is expected to reach its farthest distance from Earth while seeing parts of the lunar far side never seen with human eyes.

As Earth goes out of sight, radio contact with mission control will drop for roughly 40 minutes because the moon itself blocks the line of sight back home. Even without that link, the crew will keep working in the Orion spacecraft, dubbed Integrity, using onboard devices to capture images, measurements, and notes.

Asteroid 2024 DW flew about 139,000 miles (224,000 km) away from Earth. The space rock was estimated to be about 43 feet wide (13 m). Credit: Space.com | animation: NASA/JPL-Caltech | edited by Steve

NASA's Artemis II crew is making history, traveling farther from Earth than any astronauts before. Here's how far they will go Monday.

The Orion ship transporting the Artemis II crew in their moon flyby surpassed Apollo 13’s distance record, set in 1970.