The crew, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, reached the midpoint roughly two days, five hours and 24 minutes after liftoff from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. NASA released visuals from inside the Orion spacecraft, showing striking views of Earth's blue oceans and cloud formations.

During a live broadcast, Koch described the moment as a shared "expression of joy", while the crew noted they are now closer to the Moon than to people on Earth. She also confirmed that the Moon is already visible from the spacecraft's docking hatch.

NASA said Orion was over 2.29 lakh kilometres from Earth on Saturday morning. Following a high-energy launch and crucial engine burn, the astronauts have transitioned to routine operations, including system checks and experiments in microgravity.

First-time space traveller Hansen called the experience "extraordinary", likening weightlessness to a childlike sense of wonder.

The mission is expected to perform a lunar flyby early next week, a feat not achieved since the Apollo era. The next milestone will be entry into the Moon's gravitational sphere, where lunar pull exceeds Earth's.

Artemis II is part of NASA's long-term plan to return humans to the Moon and build a sustained presence for future missions.