The Artemis II mission successfully continued its lunar flyby path, passing the halfway point between the Earth and the Moon , NASA has said. Artemis II astronauts are the first to fly towards the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972 . They will not land, as their mission is a test of the capsule itself and the first steps of NASA's planned landing in 2028. The agency hopes to eventually establish a base on the moon. MIssion control in Houston held a call with the four astronauts on board the Orion capsule at around 11:00 pm (4:00 am UTC) on Friday night, and informed them of the significance of their location. "You are now closer to the moon than you are to us on Earth," said. NASA said they were 219,000 kilometers (136,080 miles) from Earth. The Orion spacecraft will use the Moon's gravity to slingshot itself back to Earth without propulsion Image: NASA/UPI Photo/Newscom/picture alliance The milestone comes just two days, five hours and 24 minutes after they took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida.…