At 12:56 PM CDT on Monday, four astronauts on NASA’s Artemis II test flight set a new record. They traveled 248,655 miles from Earth. This beats the distance reached by Apollo 13 in 1970. The Orion spacecraft will reach about 252,756 miles at its farthest point before heading back to Earth. This marks a new milestone for human spaceflight.
Six days into the first crewed Artemis mission, the Orion spacecraft continued its journey farther from Earth. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen continued to capture photos of the Moon.
At NASA, we dare to reach higher, explore further, and achieve the impossible. Our Artemis II astronauts Victor Dash, Kristina, and Jeremy Dash embody this spirit, charting new territory for all humanity, said Dr. Lori Glaze, acting Associate Administrator of the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Their commitment is more than breaking records. It inspires hope for a bold future. Their mission carries our pledge to return to the Moon’s surface and remain there, as if we will build a Moon base.
After setting the distance record, NASA’s Orion spacecraft launched on April 1 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The next day, it performed engine burns to exit Earth’s orbit and set course for the moon.
After this milestone, the crew took a moment to share heartfelt comments. Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen spoke from aboard Orion.
From the cabin of integrity, as we surpass the furthest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth, we honor the extraordinary efforts and feats of our predecessors in manned space exploration. We will continue our journey even further into space before Mother Earth brings us back to all we hold dear. Most importantly, we choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next, ensuring this record is not long-lived.
In addition to setting a new space flight record, the crew suggested names for two lunar craters during their journey. One would be named after their spacecraft, Integrity, and the other in memory of Wiseman’s late wife, Caroll. Upon mission completion, these names will be officially proposed to the International Astronomical Union, which oversees cosmic naming.
Later in the mission, the crew will pass about 4,067 miles from the moon’s surface. They will be the first to see some areas from the far side. The team will also witness a solar eclipse as the moon moves in front of the sun.
During these encounters, NASA expects to lose contact with the astronauts for about 40 minutes. This planned blackout will occur when the Moon blocks signals between the spacecraft and Earth through the Deep Space Network. Once Orion emerges from behind the Moon, it should quickly reconnect with flight controllers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Many cameras will capture images of the moon, including never-before-seen areas. Astronauts will use various digital cameras for high-resolution surface photos. With Artemis II, the crew will collect valuable data. Their direct observations will be a powerful scientific tool for studying the moon’s features under different lighting and textures.
The photos, videos, mission telemetry, and communication data from this test flight will provide important guidance for future Artemis missions as NASA advances its plans for a Moon base.
The Artemis II astronauts have passed the halfway point of their mission. They are set to splash down off the coast of San Diego at around 8 or 7 p.m. EDT (5.07 PM PDT) on Friday, April 10. After landing, recovery teams will pick them up by helicopter. They will be taken to the USS, John P. Murtha. There, the astronauts will have medical checks before heading back to shore. Then they will fly to NASA Johnson.
Through the Artemis initiative, NASA plans to send astronauts on increasingly complex missions to explore more of the Moon. These missions aim to support scientific research, create economic opportunities, and establish a foundation for future crewed missions to Mars.
Source: NASA’s Artemis II Crew Eclipses Record for Farthest Human Spaceflight
