Authored by T.J.Muscaro via The Epoch Times,

Astronauts are back in lunar space for the first time in more than 50 years.

Artemis II's Orion spacecraft, Integrity, crossed into the Moon's gravitational influence at approximately 12:41 a.m. ET on April 6, officially making NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, as well as the Canadian Space Agency's Jeremy Hansen, the first astronauts to enter lunar space in more than half a century.

While they are not parking in lunar orbit or attempting a landing, the point where lunar gravity becomes more powerful than the Earth's is considered the arrival point to lunar space. It is a threshold that only 24 explorers had crossed—until now.

The crew was scheduled to wake up at 10:50 a.m. ET, when a historic day of firsts, records, and opportunities for discoveries lay before them.

They will be the largest crew yet to fly around the moon, and they are expected to set a new distance record for the farthest human beings have ever traveled from the surface of the Earth. They are also expected to observe areas of the lunar surface that have never been seen firsthand by human eyes, and a complete solar eclipse, before lunar gravity essentially throws their spacecraft on a course back home.

NASA's live coverage is expected to begin at 1 p.m. ET. Here is what to know about the day's events.

Lunar Observation Timeline

1:30 p.m.—The crew will have a conversation with the science officer in Mission Control for final review and solidification of the surface targets for observation and other objectives.

2:45 p.m. ET—Artemis II's seven-hour lunar flyby will officially begin.

Integrity's course will send the crew behind the moon, passing on looker's left, and swinging around to reemerge on looker's right.