Artemis II Crew Sets New Distance Record from Earth

The Artemis II mission crew made history on Monday by traveling farther from Earth than any humans before, surpassing a 56-year-old record set by the Apollo 13 astronauts as their Orion spacecraft conducted a close flyby of the Moon.

Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch of NASA and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency reached a maximum distance of 252,752 miles from Earth during the sixth day of their 10-day journey. The milestone, achieved around 1:56 p.m. EDT, exceeded the Apollo 13 record of 248,655 miles by approximately 4,102 miles. The crew launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 1 aboard the Orion spacecraft, powered by four RS-25 engines and two solid rocket boosters that generated 8.8 million pounds of thrust. The mission, which does not include a lunar landing, aims to test systems for future explorations, including a planned U.S. return to the Moon in 2028 and eventual missions to Mars.

The record-breaking moment came amid a seven-hour lunar flyby that began around 2:45 p.m. EDT. At its closest approach, Orion passed within 4,070 miles of the lunar surface, allowing the astronauts to observe...