India, April 4 -- Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen described a surreal moment aboard NASA's Orion spacecraft, saying it felt like he was "falling out of the sky" as the crew powered towards the moon on the Artemis II mission.

Hansen, a 50-year-old former fighter pilot on his first spaceflight, said the initial hours in space were filled with awe.

Speaking during a video call on Saturday, Hansen shared early experiences from the journey, as the spacecraft crossed the halfway mark between Earth and the moon - more than 2,41,000 km (150,000 miles) away, reported news agency AFP.

Flanked by fellow astronauts Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman, Hansen reflected on how rapidly their home planet seemed to shrink from view. "By the time we had a b...