Further Than Apollo: Artemis II Crew Breaks World Record in the Shadow of the Moon
World
A historic moment for global space exploration: after 54 years, the record of the legendary Apollo 13 mission has been broken. The crew of the Orion spacecraft not only completed a lunar flyby but also traveled the greatest distance from Earth in the history of crewed spaceflight, opening a new chapter in deep-space exploration.
During the night of April 6-7, 2026, four astronauts—NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and the CSA’s Jeremy Hansen—reached a maximum distance of 406,771 km from Earth. This surpasses the previous record set in 1970 by approximately 6,500 km.
The Orion spacecraft soared at an altitude of 6,400 km above the lunar surface. During a 40-minute period of communication silence while the craft was behind the far side of the Moon, the crew conducted detailed photography of craters and ancient lava flows.
Beyond scientific observations, the astronauts witnessed several extraordinary phenomena:
Cosmic Eclipse: For nearly an hour, the Earth, Moon, and Sun aligned, plunging the spacecraft into deep shadow.
Lunar Bombardment: On the dark side of the Moon, the crew recorded six flashes of light—the impact of meteoroids striking the surface at several thousand kilometers per hour.
The Artemis II mission, which launched on April 2 from Cape Canaveral, is nearing its conclusion. The primary objective—testing Orion’s life support and navigation systems in deep space—has been successfully achieved. The spacecraft is now on its trajectory back to Earth. Splashdown in the Pacific Ocean is expected on April 11 at 01:07 GMT.
The Orion spacecraft soared at an altitude of 6,400 km above the lunar surface. During a 40-minute period of communication silence while the craft was behind the far side of the Moon, the crew conducted detailed photography of craters and ancient lava flows.
Beyond scientific observations, the astronauts witnessed several extraordinary phenomena:
Cosmic Eclipse: For nearly an hour, the Earth, Moon, and Sun aligned, plunging the spacecraft into deep shadow.
Lunar Bombardment: On the dark side of the Moon, the crew recorded six flashes of light—the impact of meteoroids striking the surface at several thousand kilometers per hour.
The Artemis II mission, which launched on April 2 from Cape Canaveral, is nearing its conclusion. The primary objective—testing Orion’s life support and navigation systems in deep space—has been successfully achieved. The spacecraft is now on its trajectory back to Earth. Splashdown in the Pacific Ocean is expected on April 11 at 01:07 GMT.
Powered by Froala Editor