The Artemis 2 mission performs its much-anticipated lunar flyby on Monday, April 6. During the multi-hour flyby, the crew will capture high-resolution images and provide observations of the Moon’s surface, including never-before-seen areas of the far side.

The far side will only be partially illuminated, with shadows over the surface revealing detail - including of ridges, slopes, and crater rims - difficult to detect under full illumination.

The crew comprises NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

The mission tests the Orion spacecraft’s life-support systems with a crew for the first time and lays groundwork for future Artemis missions - including lunar landings and even potential trips to Mars.

The flight has seen a number of technical issues already - including a blocked toilet in the first hours which was later resolved. It marks the first crewed flight around the Moon since the Apollo program in the late 1960s and early 1970s.