Artemis 2 Astronauts Break Record For Travelling Furthest From Earth

In a historic leap for lunar exploration, the crew of NASA’s Artemis 2 mission has officially broken the record for the furthest distance traveled by humans from Earth. On Tuesday, April 7, 2026, the Orion spacecraft, carrying Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, surpassed the previous record set during the Apollo 13 mission in 1970.

The milestone was achieved as part of a "free-return trajectory" designed to swing the spacecraft around the far side of the Moon. At its peak distance, the crew reached a point approximately 400,000 kilometers (248,548 miles) away from Earth, offering the four astronauts a perspective of our home planet and the lunar surface never before witnessed by human eyes in such detail.

"We are standing on the shoulders of giants, but today we are looking further into the cosmos than ever before," Commander Wiseman radioed back to Mission Control in Houston. The mission serves as a critical flight test of the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion life-support systems, paving the way for the Artemis 3 mission, which aims to land the first woman and the next man on the lunar South Pole.



The record-breaking moment was celebrated globally as a sign of humanity's return to deep-space exploration. Beyond the distance record, the mission is also notable for its diverse crew, including the first woman and the first person of color to travel to the vicinity of the Moon. As Orion begins its journey back toward Earth, the data collected during this phase will be vital for future long-duration missions to Mars. The crew is expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean in the coming days, completing a journey that has redefined the boundaries of human reach.