Artemis II Crew Sets New Record 252,760 Miles from Earth

Four astronauts made history Monday evening as their spacecraft slipped behind the Moon, breaking the distance record set by Apollo 13 in 1970. The Artemis II crew is now farther from home than any human has ever traveled.

Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen entered a planned 40-minute communications blackout at 6:44 p.m. ET. The Moon itself blocked all signals to Earth as the spacecraft passed the far side.

At 7:05 p.m. ET, the crew reached their farthest point from Earth at 252,760 miles. That's 4,105 miles beyond the Apollo 13 record, a mark that stood for 55 years.

From their vantage point, the Moon appears about the size of a basketball held at arm's length. The crew is just 4,070 miles from the lunar surface, close enough to see details never photographed before.

During the blackout, the astronauts aren't sitting idle. They're tracking historic Apollo landing sites, scouting future landing zones, and photographing rare planetary alignments including Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Saturn.

NASA confirmed the spacecraft is performing perfectly. The agency prepared the crew for any scenario, including practicing essential tasks in their bulky orange suits, but expects a smooth mission.

Why This Inspires

This mission represents more than broken records. It's the first step in NASA's plan to return humans to the Moon's surface and eventually reach Mars.

The Artemis II crew includes the first woman and first Canadian to travel beyond low Earth orbit. Their journey proves that space exploration is expanding, not just in distance but in who gets to participate.

Ground control expects contact to resume around 7:25 p.m. ET, the moment Earth reappears on the spacecraft's horizon. The crew will continue their nearly eight-day journey, collecting data and images that will help plan future Moon landings.

Humanity just reached a little farther into the cosmos, and four explorers are leading the way home with stories and science that will inspire the next generation of space travelers.