On April 10, Artemis II – humanity’s first mission to the Moon in more than half a century – will draw to a close when the Orion capsule carrying four crew members detaches from its service module.

The capsule will then make a fiery plunge towards Earth, travelling at a speed of 25,000 miles per hour. As it plummets through the atmosphere, Orion’s heat shield will encounter temperatures of more than 1,600°C as the spacecraft decelerates rapidly.

A series of 11 parachutes will deploy in sequence to bring Orion to a relatively sedate 25mph splashdown off the coast of San Diego in California. Splashdown will round out a remarkable flight which took the astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen on a looping lunar flyby.

Reaching a distance of 252,756 miles from Earth, they travelled further from our planet than humans have ever been – exceeding a record set by the crew of Apollo 13 in 1970.

The four-day journey out to the Moon was remarkably smooth, barring a few minor hiccups. The capsule’s 3D-printed titanium toilet malfunctioned early in the flight and had to be fixed by mission specialist Koch who, during a group interview, declared: “I’m the space plumber!” A communications dropout about 50 minutes into the flight was quickly resolved.

The Moon is tidally locked to Earth, meaning it completes one rotation on its axis in the same time it takes to orbit the Earth (28 days). This means we always see the same face of the Moon.

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The lunar far side therefore remains permanently out of view from Earth, and has often been referred to as the dark side of the Moon. In fact, it receives just as much sunlight as the near-side face.

The two faces are, however, remarkably different. On the near side, the darker regions (the lunar maria) that we can see from Earth are vast smooth plains of solidified, iron-rich lava.

This lava has been gradually powdered by meteoroid impacts over the aeons. The lighter regions we see are comprised of mountains and densely packed impact craters.

Compared with the face we see from Earth, the lunar far side is extraordinarily rugged. It is peppered with impact craters and has very few smooth lunar maria. Why this disparity exists is still debated.

The Artemis II astronauts were struck by this difference during their flyby, remarking on the shadows cast by lunar topography near the far-side terminator (the boundary between day and night).

Orion’s loop around the Moon brought the crew to a distance of 4,067 miles from the lunar surface. From this remarkable vantage point, high over the lunar far side, the astronauts were treated to a grand view of the full lunar disk.

They captured some beautiful imagery of our nearest, yet still-enigmatic celestial neighbour.

One of the few distinct far-side maria is Mare Orientale, a circular bullseye-like impact basin which was subsequently flooded with lava.

Orientale was formed by a powerful impact some 3.8 billion years ago, towards the end of the Late Heavy Bombardment – a surge of enormous meteorite impacts which struck the planets of the inner Solar System. Mare Orientale measures 180 miles across, roughly the distance between London and Leeds in the UK.

One advantage of sending astronauts to directly view terrain like this is the human eye. Despite the advances of modern imaging technology, our eyes are still one of the best instruments for perceiving colour.

While high over the lunar far side, the astronauts reported seeing not just shades of grey on the lunar surface far below them but also subtle tones of browns and greens, hinting at the complex mineral make-up of this ancient terrain.

During their flyby, the crew also observed two unnamed craters which they named Integrity, after their spacecraft, and Carroll, after Wiseman’s wife who died of cancer in 2020 aged 46. Canadian astronaut Hansen’s voice cracked with emotion as he announced the name during Nasa’s live mission coverage.

As the Orion spacecraft passed behind the Moon (from our perspective), the astronauts were treated to a stunning view of Earthset where, from their perspective, the Earth dipped below the lunar horizon.

During this time, radio signals between Earth and the spacecraft were blocked, causing a 47-minute communication blackout. But the astronauts remained busy with tasks, including photographing the part of the lunar far side that was in darkness, to see if any flashes from meteorite impacts could be seen.

Wiseman, the mission’s commander, explained: “As soon as we went out of [contact] with planet Earth, we did have maple cookies … and then right back into the science. We had to take a moment to honour that time going behind the Moon and out of touch with Earth. That was a very surreal moment.”

Shortly after regaining contact with Earth, the astronauts were treated to yet another stunning perspective: a total solar eclipse, but seen from space near the Moon.

From Earth, a total solar eclipse at a given location typically lasts a few minutes and, by coincidence, the visible size of the lunar disk is approximately the same size as the visible size of the solar disk.

However, from near the Moon, the lunar disk appears much larger and the eclipse lasted nearly an hour. By blocking the powerful light from the Sun, it revealed part of the Sun’s extended atmosphere called the corona (Latin for crown).

This diffuse atmosphere is more than a million times fainter than direct sunlight. When the Moon blocked this out, the astronauts could clearly see the corona extending out far into the solar system. It is actually a combination of diffuse gas flowing out into space and dust particles which scatter sunlight (called the F-corona).

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The F-corona is more extensive in the plane (an imaginary flat surface in space) in which the planets all orbit the Sun. This effect can be seen in the image below, where the corona extends outwards towards the planet Venus (bottom left).

Technically, Artemis II is an engineering mission designed to test the performance of the Orion spacecraft in supporting human crews in deep space for extended periods.

However, when one looks at the images it has returned and the stories of the astronauts, it is hard not to think of this as a mission of exploration in its purest sense. The crew were heading out into the unknown, just to see what’s out there.

Dozens of people demonstrated in St Helen’s Square from 1pm on Saturday (April 11).

It followed the ruling by the UK’s highest court last April that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the 2010 Equality Act “refer to a biological woman and biological sex”.

Judges, at the time, stressed their ruling did not diminish transgender women’s protections against direct discrimination.

But the protesters in York felt the ruling had resulted in uncertainty for transgender people, including around daily tasks such as which public toilet they should use.

Julie Forgan, from the York branch of the Unison union, during the protest on Saturday (April 11) (Image: Dylan Connell)

A trans rights activist in St Helen’s Square, York, on Saturday (April 11) (Image: Dylan Connell)

Julie Forgan, from the York branch of the Unison union which represents public sector workers, said what the ruling means for some of its members remained unclear a year on.

“People have gone into workplaces and been concerned about what their employer’s going to say about where they can use the toilet, which is a disgrace,” she said.

“People should be able to use the toilet where they want to use the toilet and not feel intimated by that kind of thing.

“As trade union reps, we’ve had to step in and sort out issues around that.

“That should not be something that needs to happen – it’s a human right to be able to use the toilet where you want to use the toilet.”

Trans rights activists in St Helen’s Square, York, on Saturday (April 11) (Image: Dylan Connell)

Trans rights activists in St Helen’s Square, York, on Saturday (April 11) (Image: Dylan Connell)

Julie said Unison is “very strongly in favour of trans rights because anything that divides communities means that we can’t fight effectively in unity”.

“Unison has a very strong trade union policy in support of trans rights.

“I’m here to show solidarity with everyone else who is here.”

Julie called for change to happen on a national level, saying: “People’s human rights need to be respected nationally, and positions should be made very clear that we respect everyone’s rights.”

Green Party representatives at the trans rights protest in St Helen’s Square, York, on Saturday (April 11) (Image: Dylan Connell)

A placard during the trans rights protest in St Helen’s Square, York, on Saturday (April 11) (Image: Dylan Connell)

She called on leaders to call out incidents of discrimination and abuse against transgender people.

“I think a lot of it has happened because people like the far-right have taken up the issue of trans rights and discriminating against trans people,” Julie said.

“It’s very important that everyone else speaks out against it, and that trans rights become integral to what we’re all fighting about together.”

Karen Cook during the trans rights protest in St Helen’s Square, York, on Saturday (April 11) (Image: Dylan Connell)

Karen Cook, the mother of a transgender teenage boy, attended the protest from Lincolnshire.

“I’m here because I’m really cross that trans people are being removed out of normal society,” she said.

Karen said transgender people had become ostracized, adding that it was negatively impacting a “small group of society who are absolutely lovely”.

The mother said she had previously been involved with Girlguiding and held a sign with the Girlguiding promise: “A guide is a good friend and a sister to all guides”, in protest to the organisation telling its members transgender girls must leave Girlguiding by early September.

Girlguiding said that since the Supreme Court’s ruling, it had undertaken “detailed considerations, expert legal advice and input from senior members, young members”, its council and board of trustees.

In an update last month, the organisation said trans girls who are members can stay until September 6.

It added that any trans girl or trans woman who is currently volunteering in a role open to women only will be required to move by this date to a position that is open to males or females.

Britain’s Armed Forces have been “hollowed out”, Retired General Sir Richard Barrons has said, adding that £10 billion needs to be annually to give the UK the security it needs

One of Britain’s top retired generals has warned the UK “act today” and prepare for war with Russia.

Retired General Sir Richard Barrons said the country’s Armed Forces have been “hollowed out” by cuts and can no longer rely on US support to “bail” Britain out.

He estimates that a yearly increase of £10 billion needs to be found every year so Britain’s defence can be properly funded. Sir Richard called this the “bargain of the century” if it ensures Britain never have to pay the huge costs of fighting a war.

“The war in Iran and Russia’s aggression in Europe must be a wake up call for the entire country,” Sir Richard wrote in the Sun. “We must all unite in a national effort to beef up our defences while there is still time, otherwise it could be too late.”

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He added: “Russia thinks it is already ‘at war’ with Europe. They hack us, try to meddle in our politics and even hire ‘organised crime’ to sabotage our businesses.

Sir Richard also said the missiles that “rain down” on Ukraine could one day be pointed at Britain.

He said this threat was not “imminent”, but “we need to be ready if the day ever comes”.

The retired general questioned politicians who have failed to fund the military because they “see no votes on it” and that MPs need to “make the hard choices to keep us safe”.

Sir Richard was one of the writers for the government-commission Strategic Defence Review, published last year.

Speaking to BBC Four’s The World At One, he said he had expected it to be enacted through a defence investment plan that took the 62 recommendations and turned them into a 10-year programme of funded activity, but that they are “still waiting for that plan to be issued”.

Sir Richard added that the UK’s armed forces are “grounded in the state the post-Cold War era left them”, but noted that the economic position means the Government is choosing to transform the country’s defence over a period of longer than 10 years, when “you’ve probably got three to five years”.

He argued that it is “not a question of affordability”, but of “hard choices to do without something else to put more money into defence, because it’s vital”.

On the US’s position in NATO, Sir Richard said: “What I think has become more difficult on the back of Greenland and the difficult rhetoric around the war in Iran is the degree of trust between the US and European NATO, and I think that is very dangerous.

“I very badly want to believe that, below the level of rhetoric, substantial things are still holding, and I think they are.”

However, the US cavalry is “not going to come now in the way we’ve become accustomed to since 1949”, he said, which makes the urgency to restore European defences greater, especially if the US exit is “some sort of cliff edge”, rather than managed.

Pressure has mounted on the Government to publish its long-delayed defence investment plan as global tensions simmer following the US-Iran ceasefire.

Defence Secretary John Healey last month denied that the Treasury was holding up the publication of the plan, and rejected suggestions there had been requests to scale it back.

Labour MP and Commons Defence Committee chairman Tan Dhesi warned its absence risks undermining Britain’s standing in NATO.

Mr Dhesi said the UK’s “inability to deploy a single ship swiftly” after the outbreak of war in the Middle East had left many “embarrassed”.

“The Defence Committee has repeatedly raised concerns around the UK’s lack of mass and capabilities, and the urgent need for investment in UK defence,” he said.

“While the strategic defence review set out the long-term strategic vision for our military, the defence investment plan was meant to provide the details, and its publication has been delayed several months.

“The lack of a public plan now runs the risk of undermining the UK’s ability to play a full and leading role in NATO.”

Real-terms defence spending fluctuated under the successive Conservative governments between 2010 and 2024, falling by 22% by 2016/17, after which it steadily rose and has recently returned to 2010 levels.

Sir Keir’s Labour Government has pledged to spend 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) on core defence by 2027, rising to 3% in the next parliament.

Defence minister Luke Pollard accused the Tories of having “hollowed out” the armed forces and “leaving our brave servicemen and women exposed”.

He added: “Prime Minister Keir Starmer is delivering the biggest sustained uplift in defence spending since the end of the Cold War, with every pound of our defence uplift delivering for British workers, British businesses and Britain’s national security.”

Mr Healey, meanwhile, revealed on Thursday that the UK and its allies tracked three Russian vessels off the UK’s northern coast.

A British warship and aircraft were deployed to deter “malign” activity by Vladimir Putin’s regime in waters off the UK’s northern coast, John Healey said.

He said Putin had sought to capitalise on the world being “distracted” by the Iran war and that he poses “the primary threat to UK security”.

Tyson Fury marked his return to the heavyweight mix with a composed points win over Arslanbek Makhmudov at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, before immediately turning ringside to call out long-time rival Anthony Joshua.

The 37-year-old Briton – back after 15 months out – was not at his sharpest and it was far from vintage Fury, but he had enough ring IQ and technical control to outbox Makhmudov across 12 largely one-sided rounds.

Fury had to be watchful at times as Makhmudov did land occasional overhand rights, but the Russian was largely one-dimensional as Fury took a wide decision with scorecards of 120-108, 120-108 and 119-109.

After the fight, Fury crossed the ring to speak with long-time rival Joshua, who was talking to him from the other side of the apron, with organisers indicating the long-mooted showdown will be next.

“Let’s give the fight fans what they want. Do not run from me this time. Ten years in the making. Let’s dance,” Fury said.

Joshua declined to commit, sitting back in his chair before calmly replying: “I punched you up when we were kids and I’ll punch you up again.

“You aren’t going to tell me what to do, I’ve been chasing you for 10 years. I’m the boss, you work for me. I’m the landlord. You work for me.”

A bout that should have happened in both men’s primes, it now lingers as boxing’s great what-if – but it appears it may finally be made a reality.

In his first fight since successive defeats to unified champion Oleksandr Usyk, Fury moves to 35 wins, two losses and one draw. For Makhmudov, 36, it is a third defeat in 24 fights.