US EditionArtemis II astronauts break Apollo 13 record for traveling farthest from Earth
The four astronauts surpassed Apollo 13’s 1970 mark by 4,105 miles as Orion completed a planned lunar flyby.
- On Monday, April 06, 2026, NASA's Artemis II astronauts Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen became the farthest humans from Earth, breaking Apollo 13's 56-year distance record.
- Utilizing a figure-eight free-return trajectory, the mission leverages Earth and lunar gravity to navigate the Moon's far side, mirroring the emergency path taken by Apollo 13 during their 1970 crisis.
- Reaching roughly 252,760 miles from Earth, the crew surpassed the previous 248,655-mile mark and will conduct seven hours of lunar observation while passing within 4,070 miles of the Moon's surface.
- Crew members awoke to a recorded message from late Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell, who said, "Welcome to my old neighborhood." The team is performing real-time data analysis to inform future Moon exploration.
- This milestone validates Orion systems for the 2028 Artemis III landing as the test flight concludes Friday, April 10, with a planned Pacific splashdown near San Diego.
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The crew of the "Artemis 2" mission was as far away from Earth on Tuesday as no human before. They broke the record of the "Apollo 13" mission from 1970. The furthest point was about 406,771 kilometers from Earth.
NASA-Artemis II Astronauts Complete Historic Lunar Flyby
NASA’s Artemis II mission has made history after its four-member crew completed a record-breaking journey around the Moon. The Orion spacecraft reached a distance of 252,756 miles from Earth, surpassing the Apollo 13 record set in 1970. Astronauts witnessed parts of the Moon’s far side directly and experienced a brief 40-minute communications blackout as the spacecraft passed behind it. During the mission, the crew also observed a solar eclipse,…
Artemis crew breaks record in lunar flyby | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
HOUSTON -- With the moon now filling their windows, the Artemis II astronauts sailed into their lunar flyby Monday, taking in magnificent views of the far side never before witnessed while setting a new distance record for humanity.
The four astronauts of the Artemis 2 mission passed the far side of the Moon on Tuesday night, Estonian time, and in the process reached a distance of more than 406,000 kilometers from Earth. The team broke the record set by the Apollo 13 astronauts more than half a century ago.
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