‘Historic day’: Artemis astronauts break space distance record

The Artemis II crew sets a new space distance record, journeying further than any humans before them on a lunar flyby.

The four astronauts embarking on NASA’s lunar flyby became on Monday (April 6, 2026) the humans to travel furthest from our planet, as they get set to view areas of the Moon never before seen by the naked eye.

The Artemis II team broke the previous record set by 1970’s Apollo 13 mission, which they are expected to surpass by approximately 4,105 miles (6,606 kilometers) when they reach this journey’s furthest distance from Earth -- 252,760 miles (406,778 kilometers) -- later today.

The astronauts are journeying around the Moon for a monumental flyby, in which they’ll spend more than six hours analysing and documenting lunar surface features.

The NASA mission had swept earlier into the Moon’s gravitational sphere of influence, meaning their spacecraft is in the natural satellite’s neighborhood, with lunar gravity outmuscling Earth’s pull.

The Orion capsule is zipping around the Moon before U-turning and heading back to Earth in a so-called “free-return trajectory,” a return-trip that will take about four days.

The astronauts began their landmark day with a message from the late Jim Lovell, who took part in the Apollo 8 and 13 missions and recorded the message shortly before his death.