The Artemis 2 Astronauts Are Now Farther From Earth Than Any Have Gone Before

It was a moment for the spaceflight history books. At approximately 1:57 p.m. ET, the Artemis 2 crew—NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen—broke the record for the farthest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth. That record was set by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970 at 248,655 miles (400,171 kilometers) from our home planet. NASA expects the Orion spacecraft to make its closest approach to the Moon at around 7:02 p.m. , coming within just 4,070 miles (6,550 km) of the surface. Orion will reach its farthest point from Earth just a few minutes later, achieving a maximum distance of 252,760 miles (406,778 km). That’s roughly 4,105 miles (6,606 km) farther than Apollo 13. At that distance, the Moon will appear to be about the size of a basketball held at arm’s length to the crew. It’s been more than half a century since the last time humans went to the Moon. Apollo 13’s record has stood uncontested for decades, but now NASA is writing a new chapter. The observations the Artemis 2 astronauts will gather during their lunar flyby today will not only greatly enhance scientists’ understanding of our closest celestial neighbor, b