flyby

April 6 (UPI) — The four crew members of the Artemis II mission entered the moon’s sphere of influence early Monday, marking the start of their lunar flyby.

The Orion spacecraft reached what is called the lunar sphere of influence at about 12:41 a.m. ET Monday, meaning the moon’s gravitational forces on the capsule were greater than those of Earth.

The mission launched Wednesday from Florida, and it took the spacecraft four days, six hours, two minutes and 54 seconds to cross the important gravitational milestone, the first crewed mission to enter the moon’s sphere of influence since Apollo 17 in 1972.

About 13 hours later, at 1:56 p.m., the four-person crew of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Cristina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen will have surpassed the record for the farthest humans have traveled from Earth, which was previously set by Apollo 13 in 1970.

The spacecraft is expected to start its flyby of the moon at about 2:45 p.m. Monday, when a seven-hour lunar observation period will begin.

NASA said the crew will see both the near and far sides of the moon during this period. As window space is limited, the crew will be divided into pairs that will conduct between 55- and 85-minute observation shifts, it said.

Mission control sent the crew the final list of lunar surface features to be observed and photographed during the flyby early Sunday, according to NASA.

The astronauts will be tasked with observing about 30 targets, including the Orientale basin, a nearly 600-mile-wide crater that spans the boundary between the moon’s near and far sides, NASA said.

“The crew will study Orientale’s features up close and from multiple angles as they pass by,” the space agency said in a Sunday evening blog post.

Orion is expected to reach its closest approach to the moon at 4,070 miles at 7:02 p.m. only to reach its maximum distance from Earth during the mission minutes later.

The lunar observation period is expected to come to an end at 9:20 p.m.

At about 1:25 p.m. Tuesday, Orion will have exited the lunar sphere of influence en route home.

The 10-day moon flyby mission is to conclude with a splashdown off the coast of San Diego at about 8:07 p.m. Friday.

March 31 (UPI) — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday that helicopter pilots who conducted a flyby of musician Kid Rock‘s Nashville estate over the weekend would not be punished, an abrupt reversal of the U.S. Army’s decision to suspend the Apache helicopter crews amid review of their conduct.

“@USArmy pilots suspension LIFTED,” Hegseth said on X. “No punishment. No investigation.

“Carry on, patriots,” he said.

He also thanked Rock, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, a vocal ally of President Donald Trump.

“You’re a disgrace,” Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican House of Representative from Illinois and a retired U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard officer, said in an expletive-laced statement responding to Hegseth’s announcement, in which he called the defense secretary an “unqualified clown.”

Rock published a pair of videos to social media on Saturday showing him cheering on a pair of Apache helicopters flying by and hovering near his Nashville estate, which he has called “The Southern White House.”

“This is a level of respect that [expletive] for brains Governor of California will never know,” Rock wrote in the caption to the videos. “God bless America and all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to defend her.”

After the videos went viral, the U.S. Army announced Monday that it was conducting an administrative review of the incident.

Army spokesman Maj. Montrell Russell confirmed Tuesday that two Apache helicopters from the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade at Fort Campbell, Ky., located about 60 miles north of Nashville, had conducted a flight in the Nashville area that has attracted media and the public’s attention.

“The personnel involved have been suspended from flight duties while the Army reviews the circumstances surrounding the mission, including compliance with relevant [Federal Aviation Administration] regulations, aviation safety protocols and approval requirements,” Russell said in a statement.

Hegseth offered no explanation for the reversal, which came not long after Trump told reporters at the White House that he had not seen the video.

Asked what he thought of the crews’ suspension, Trump said, “Well, they probably shouldn’t have been doing it.”

“Yes, you’re not supposed to be playing games, right? I’d take a look at it,” he said.

“They like Kid Rock. I like Kid Rock. Maybe they were trying to defend him. I don’t know.”

Rock has long been a vocal supporter of Trump and has appeared at the White House and in a recent Health and Human Services Department promotional video where he is seen working out bare-chested with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy.

He has also lashed out at Trump’s critics, notably California Gov. Gavin Newsom.