Artemis II crew sets distance record in historic lunar flyby

The four astronauts of Artemis II made history by traveling farther from Earth than any humans before, reaching a record distance of 252,756 miles during a flyby of the far side of the Moon.

The mission, led by NASA, included astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Their spacecraft, Orion, passed within about 4,070 miles of the lunar surface during a six-hour survey of the moon’s shadowed hemisphere.

During the flyby, astronauts observed meteor impact flashes lighting up the cratered surface—rare phenomena that scientists monitored in real time from Johnson Space Center. The crew also captured images of Earth rising and setting over the lunar horizon, a perspective only previously seen during the Apollo program.

The mission marks humanity’s return to deep space exploration more than 50 years after Apollo. It serves as a key step toward future lunar landings and long-term goals, including establishing a moon base and preparing for missions to Mars.

During the journey, the astronauts named previously unidentified lunar features, including one crater in memory of Wiseman’s late wife. They also experienced a 40-minute communication blackout while passing behind the moon.

The crew received congratulations from Donald Trump, who praised the mission as a historic achievement. Astronauts described the moment of seeing Earth again after emerging from the moon’s far side as one of the most unforgettable experiences of the mission.