Artemis II sets record distance from Earth during Moon flyby

The Artemis II crew ventured the farthest astronauts have ever traveled from Earth at 1:56 p.m. EDT on Monday while performing a flyby of the Moon. 

Surpassing the record set by Apollo 13 in 1970 by more than 4,000 miles, they reached  252,757 miles from Earth during the sixth day of their 10-day mission that began April 1. About five hours after setting that distance record, the mission will then reach its farthest point from Earth as planned in advance. 

NASA astronauts Redi Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen, make up the Artemis II crew, flying the Orion spacecraft, which they have dubbed Integrity.

“As we surpassed the farthest distance humans have ever passed from Earth… we will continue our journey…But we most importantly choose this moment to make sure this record is not long lived,” Wiseman said. 

Also Monday, the four astronauts  began observing both near and far sides of the moon for a seven-hour period.  At 6:41 p.m. EDT, mission control will lose communication with the crew for 40 minutes as the Orion spacecraft passes behind the Moon. 

The Moon will block the radio signals needed for the Deep Space Network to maintain contact with the spacecraft. Toward the end of the observation, the crew will witness a solar eclipse from space as Orion, the Moon and Sun align. The Sun will disappear behind the Moon for nearly an hour.