The astronauts of NASA’s Artemis mission have reached a crucial moment in their journey to the Moon, entering the final phase before their historic lunar flyby.

As the Artemis II crewed moon mission soars deeper into space than humans have traveled in decades, back on Earth, the White House has proposed slashing NASA’s budget.

The four Artemis II astronauts in Orion are preparing for their lunar flyby on Monday, April 6, during which they will be eclipsed as they become the most distant humans.

The crew’s Orion capsule entered what’s known as the lunar sphere of influence at around 12:41 a.m. ET Monday, crossing into the region of space where the moon’s gravitational pull is stronger than the pull of Earth’s.

NASA’s Artemis II astronauts have fired their engines and are blazing toward the moon. The so-called translunar ignition came 25 hours after liftoff, putting the three Americans and one Canadian on course for a lunar fly-around early next week.

By Joey Roulette CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida, April 1 (Reuters) - NASA is set to launch four astronauts as soon as Wednesday evening on a 10-day flight around the moon, marking the most ambitious U.S. space mission in decades and a major step toward returning humans to the lunar surface before China's first crewed landing.

The four Artemis 2 astronauts will see a solar eclipse from beyond the moon's far side on Monday evening (April 6), and they'll use the opportunity to make some science observations.