WASHINGTON, United States — Astronauts aboard NASA’s Artemis II mission have set a new record for the farthest human spaceflight, surpassing the distance reached during the historic Apollo 13 mission more than five decades ago.
NASA said the crew travelled 252,752 miles (406,764.9 kilometres) from Earth, overtaking the Apollo 13 record of 248,655 miles set in April 1970. The milestone was reached shortly before the spacecraft began its lunar fly-around and observation phase.
The astronauts were travelling aboard the Orion capsule, which earlier entered the Moon’s gravitational sphere of influence — the point where lunar gravity becomes stronger than Earth’s pull. The spacecraft later passed about 7,500 kilometres beyond the Moon’s far side.
NASA described the flight path as a figure-of-eight trajectory looping around Earth and the Moon, a manoeuvre designed to test navigation systems and deep-space operations for future lunar landings.
The mission marks the first crewed lunar flyby since 1972 and the first time in more than 50 years humans have travelled to the Moon. The crew includes NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Reid Wiseman, alongside Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
Glover became the first person of colour to fly around the Moon, while Koch became the first woman to complete a lunar flyby, NASA said.
During the closest approach, astronauts reported seeing both Earth and the Moon simultaneously, along with a solar eclipse in which the Sun disappeared behind the Moon from Orion’s perspective.
The crew entered the lunar sphere of influence at 0442 GMT on Monday and began documenting surface features. NASA released an image showing the Orientale basin, a massive lunar impact structure rarely observed with the naked eye.
“This mission marks the first time the entire basin has been seen with human eyes,” NASA said.
Hansen described the view as unprecedented. “It is blowing my mind what you can see with the naked eye from the Moon right now. It is just unbelievable,” he radioed, urging future generations to surpass the record.
Koch also described an emotional moment while observing the lunar surface. “Something just drew me in suddenly to the lunar landscape, and it became real,” she said.
The Artemis II mission is part of NASA’s broader Artemis programme aimed at returning humans to the Moon and eventually enabling missions to Mars. The flight is designed to test life-support systems, navigation, and deep-space operations before future lunar landing missions.
