Artemis II Astronauts Set New Human Distance Record During Lunar Flyby

The four astronauts of NASA's Artemis II mission set a new record for the farthest distance any human has traveled from Earth on Monday, April 6, 2026, reaching — surpassing a mark held by the Apollo 13 crew for 56 years. Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency reached that distance while flying their Orion capsule around the Moon's far side, the climactic moment of a 10-day test flight that launched April 1, 2026, from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The mission also marked a series of historic firsts: Koch became the first woman to reach lunar orbit, Glover the first Black person to do so, and Hansen the first non-U.S. citizen on a NASA lunar mission. The crew is scheduled to conclude the flight with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Friday, April 10, 2026.

Artemis II is NASA's first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17 in December 1972, ending more than half a century without a human presence near the Moon. The previous distance record of 400,171 kilometers was set by the Apollo 13 crew in April 1970, after an oxygen tank explosion aboard that spacecraft forced the crew to abort a planned Moon landing and loop around the lunar far side on a free-return trajectory. Apollo 8, in December 1968, carried the first humans to orbit the Moon, with astronaut Jim Lovell among its crew. The Artemis program aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface by 2028 and establish a long-term U.S. presence on the Moon, with Artemis III planned to practice docking with lunar landers and Artemis IV targeting a crewed landing near the Moon's south pole.

Human spaceflight distance record: Maximum distance from Earth (before: 400,171 km (Apollo 13, April 1970), after: 406,771 km (Artemis II, April 6, 2026)); Record held for (before: 56 years, after: Broken April 6, 2026); Crew diversity (before: All-male, all-American crews (Apollo era), after: First woman, first Black astronaut, first non-U.S. citizen on NASA lunar mission)

Forty-one minutes of silence as Moon blocks all contact As the Orion capsule passed behind the Moon's far side, the crew lost all communication with Earth for approximately 40 to 41 minutes, a planned blackout caused by the Moon blocking NASA's Deep Space Network signals. During that period, the astronauts witnessed a total solar eclipse lasting approximately 57 minutes, observing the Sun's corona and the alignment of planets from their unique vantage point behind the Moon — a phenomenon not visible from Earth. Koch described the moment of re-emerging from the far side as the most memorable part of the mission, saying that seeing Earth again after the blackout reminded her of how special the planet is. Glover told U.S. President Donald Trump during a congratulatory call that the crew had remained busy throughout the blackout, recording variations in the lunar surface on the little-known far side. Wiseman told Trump that the crew "saw things that no human being had seen before, not even in the Apollo program." The six-hour flyby brought the crew as close as approximately 6,550 kilometers to the lunar surface, during which a team of lunar scientists at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston monitored the astronauts' real-time descriptions of the Moon's color nuances and mineral composition. „We will always choose Earth, we will always choose each other” — Christina Koch via Deutsche Welle

Trump calls crew heroes, invites them to the White House President Donald Trump called the Artemis II crew on Monday to congratulate them, telling the astronauts they had made "history" and that the United States was "incredibly proud." Trump's call was introduced by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman from Johnson Space Center in Houston. Trump invited the crew to the White House and joked that he would ask for their autographs, calling it an unusual request. „Today you have made history and you have made all of the United States feel truly proud, incredibly proud. There is nothing like what you are doing by orbiting around the Moon for the first time in more than half a century and breaking the historic record of the greatest distance from planet Earth” — Donald Trump via ABC TU DIARIO EN ESPAÑOL Isaacman had earlier announced the record on social media, writing that Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen had "traveled farther from Earth than any other human in history." Koch said she was "not ready to come home," while Wiseman urged continued exploration, saying that every step forward "makes the world seem a little smaller and a little more manageable."

A message from beyond the grave, and a silk patch from Apollo 8 The crew woke on the day of the record-breaking flyby to a pre-recorded message from Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell, who died in August 2025 at the age of 97 and had recorded the message just two months before his death. Lovell, who also flew on Apollo 8 — humanity's first lunar visit in 1968 — told the Artemis II crew: „Welcome to my old neighbourhood. It's a historic day and I know how busy you'll be, but don't forget to enjoy the view” — Jim Lovell via Irish Independent The crew also carried aboard a silk patch from Apollo 8 that had belonged to Lovell, displaying it as the flyby approached. Wiseman said it was "a real honour" to have the patch on board. The mission is now on its four-day return journey to Earth, traveling on a free-return trajectory that uses the gravitational pull of Earth and the Moon to guide the Orion capsule home without requiring significant fuel expenditure. Splashdown in the Pacific Ocean remains scheduled for Friday, April 10, 2026, concluding what NASA has described as the first crewed test flight of its Artemis program and the opening chapter of a planned return to the lunar surface by 2028.

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