The Artemis II crew made history on Monday when their Orion spacecraft became the farthest any humans have traveled from Earth, surpassing the distance record set by Apollo 13 in April 1970.
With roughly an hour to go before beginning its scheduled lunar fly-around and observations, the capsule was about 252,752 miles (406,764.9 kilometers) from Earth — exceeding Apollo 13’s record of 248,655 miles.
Earlier the same day, NASA confirmed Orion had entered the Moon’s sphere of gravitational influence, meaning lunar gravity now dominated the spacecraft’s trajectory. The mission’s flight path resembled a figure-eight around Earth and the Moon, carrying the capsule to a point roughly 7,500 kilometers beyond the Moon’s far side.
This flyby marks the first time a crew has returned near the Moon since 1972 and the first time people have traveled farther from Earth than the Apollo-era record.
The four-person crew — U.S. astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Reid Wiseman, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen — used the close pass to document lunar surface features and capture imagery. NASA published photos showing the distant Moon with the Orientale basin visible; the agency said this was the first time the entire basin has been seen with human eyes.
From Orion, the astronauts were able to see both Earth and the Moon at once and observed a solar eclipse as the Sun disappeared behind the Moon from their perspective. NASA noted the crew entered the lunar sphere of influence at 04:42 GMT.
Crew members described powerful, emotional reactions to the view. Hansen radioed, “It is blowing my mind what you can see with the naked eye from the Moon right now,” and challenged future generations to ensure the record does not stand for long. Koch said she felt a sudden, overwhelming pull toward the lunar landscape while focusing on its features.
Victor Glover became the first person of color to travel around the Moon, and Christina Koch the first woman to do so. The flight is an important milestone for international and crewed lunar exploration as Artemis moves toward future missions that will return humans to the lunar surface.
As Orion continues its planned observations and systems checks, the mission team is collecting scientific data and imagery that will inform later Artemis missions and deepen our understanding of the Moon’s geology and environment.