Four astronauts aboard NASA's Artemis II mission have set a new benchmark for human spaceflight after travelling farther from Earth during a test flight around the Moon, the space agency said on their website on Tuesday.
At 12:56 p.m. CDT, i.e. 11:26 p.m IST, Monday night, the Orion spacecraft reached a distance of 248,655 miles or 400171 kilometers from Earth, surpassing the previous record set by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970. At its most distant point, Orion will reach about 252,756 miles (406,778 kilometers) from the planet before beginning its return journey, establishing a new record for the farthest humans have ever travelled into space.
Six days into the first crewed mission under NASA's Artemis programme, astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, alongside Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, continued documenting the Moon as they moved away from Earth.
"At NASA, we dare to reach higher, explore farther, and achieve the impossible," said Dr Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development, the NASA website said, "That's embodied perfectly by our Artemis II astronauts – Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy. Their dedication is about more than breaking records – it's fueling our hope for a bold future. Their mission is carrying our promise to return to the Moon's surface, this time to stay as we establish a Moon Base."
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Orion was launched on April 1 atop a Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After a series of engine burns to escape Earth's orbit, the spacecraft set course for the Moon.
Following the milestone, the crew delivered brief remarks from orbit. Hansen, speaking from aboard Orion, said, "From the cabin of Integrity here, as we surpass the furthest distance humans have ever traveled from planet Earth, we do so in honoring the extraordinary efforts and feats of our predecessors in human space exploration… we most importantly choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long-lived."
During the mission, the crew proposed names for two lunar craters, one honouring their spacecraft, Integrity, and another commemorating Wiseman's late wife, Carroll. The proposals will be submitted to the International Astronomical Union after the flight.
The astronauts are expected to pass within about 4,067 miles of the Moon's surface, offering the first human views of some regions of the lunar far side in more than half a century. They will also observe a solar eclipse as the Moon passes in front of the Sun.
A planned 40-minute communications blackout is expected during the lunar flyby as the Moon blocks signals to Earth. Artemis II is due to splash down off the coast of San Diego on Friday, as NASA presses ahead with its goal of a sustained human presence on the Moon and, ultimately, crewed missions to Mars.
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