🌅 Artemis II Sets a New Spaceflight Record

SOURCE

NASA

WHAT TO KNOW

• The four astronauts on NASA’s Artemis II mission reached the trip’s maximum distance from Earth at 252,756 miles on April 6, the farthest humans have ever ventured from our home planet. The Artemis II crew traveled 4,111 miles farther from Earth than the famed Apollo 13 mission in 1970. The astronauts will ultimately travel more than 695,000 miles before splashing down off the coast of San Diego on April 10.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The Orion spacecraft also reached its closest approach to the Moon on Monday, coming within 4,067 miles of the lunar surface during a planned 40-minute communications blackout. The crew spent roughly seven hours studying the lunar surface during their flyby—observing both the near and far sides of the Moon at one point—along with the Sun’s corona during a 53-minute solar eclipse.

CONNECT THE DOTS

• The Artemis II mission is a 10-day journey around the Moon designed to test life-support systems and emergency procedures aboard the Orion spacecraft. The mission sets the stage for Artemis III in 2027, which will see live tests performed in low-Earth orbit. Artemis III was previously scheduled for 2028 with the aim of bringing astronauts back to the lunar surface for the first time in more than five decades, however, NASA recently updated its schedule to push the manned landing to Artemis IV in 2028.