Sri Lanka, April 7 -- Nasa's Artemis II mission is on its way back to Earth after completing a historic fly-by of the far side of the Moon.

As expected, the four astronauts were out of contact with Nasa's team on Earth for forty minutes, as they flew around the part of the Moon not visible from our planet.

By doing so, their Orion spacecraft travelled more than 250,000 miles from Earth - a new record for the furthest distance humans have ever travelled into space.

Commander Reid Wiseman said the team "saw sights that no human has ever seen," adding that the experience was "absolutely spectacular."

It will now take the astronauts four days to make their return journey, with their craft due to gently splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off ...