The Artemis II team has set a new record of being the people farthest away from Earth. The crew surpassed the record set by Apollos 13, which was 248,655 miles from Earth.
“A new milestone for humankind: The crew of Artemis II are now the farthest any human has ever travelled, reaching a maximum distance of 252,752 miles from Earth,” NASA announced. “This surpasses the previous record set by Apollo 13 in 1970 by about 4,102 miles.”
The spacecraft broke the record at approximately 1:56 p.m. EDT.
Ahead of the record being set, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman declared on social media, “In the next 24 hours, the Artemis II crew will be on the far side of the Moon, farther into space than any humans in history. Even as they reach this historic milestone, we will continue learning a great deal about the Orion spacecraft, setting us up for Artemis III next year and America’s grand return to the lunar surface on Artemis IV in 2028.”
The Artemis II mission launched Wednesday evening from Kennedy Space Center, marking the first crewed flight to travel around the Moon in more than 50 years.
“Engineers perform final configuration checks, review system health, and ensure all launch criteria are met,” NASA said in a launch-day update. “These holds are standard in complex missions like Artemis II, providing flexibility and confidence as we prepare to send astronauts on a journey around the Moon.”
The Artemis program’s broader goal is to return astronauts to the lunar surface and establish a long-term human presence on the Moon, although the Artemis II does not include a Moon landing.
