Artemis 2 breaks humanity’s all-time distance record during historic loop around the moon (video)

NASA’s Artemis 2 moon mission just etched its name in the record books.

The four Artemis 2 astronauts have now traveled farther from Earth than any people in history, breaking the mark set by the Apollo 13 crew on April 15, 1970.

The old record — 248,655 miles (400,171 kilometers) — fell today (April 6) at 1:57 p.m. EDT (1757 GMT) as Artemis 2’s Orion capsule began looping around the far side of the moon. Artemis 2 will get a maximum of about 252,760 miles (406,778 km) from its home planet, hitting that number tonight at 7:07 p.m. EDT (2307 GMT), NASA officials have said.

Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell knew this moment was coming. So, before his death in August of last year, he recorded a congratulatory message to share with the Artemis 2 crew — NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and the Canadian Space Agency‘s Jeremy Hansen.

“Hello, Artemis 2, this is Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell. Welcome to my old neighborhood,” Lovell said in the message, which Mission Control beamed up to Artemis 2 today.

“When Frank Borman and Bill Anders and I orbited the moon on Apollo 8, we got humanity’s first up-close look at the moon, and got a view of the whole planet that inspired and united people around the world,” he added.

“I’m proud to pass that torch on to you as you swing around the moon and lay the groundwork for missions to Mars for the benefit of all. It’s a historic day, and I know how busy you’ll be, but don’t forget to enjoy the view. So, Reid, Victor and Christina and Jeremy, and all the great teams supporting you, good luck and Godspeed from all of us here on the good Earth.”

That last line was a callback to Apollo 8’s famous Christmas Eve message to the world, during which the three astronauts took turns reading the first 10 verses of the book of Genesis. Borman closed by saying, “God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth.”

“That was an awesome message from Jim Lovell,” Wiseman, the Artemis 2 commander, radioed to Mission Control today. “Very cool to hear him welcome us to the neighborhood. It’s gonna be a great day.”

Hansen took Orion’s microphone just after Artemis 2 broke the record, sharing some poignant words with all of us.

“As we surpass the furthest distance humans have ever traveled from planet Earth, we do so honoring the extraordinary efforts and feats of our predecessors in human space exploration,” Hansen said.

“We will continue our journey even further into space before Mother Earth succeeds in pulling us back to everything that we hold dear, but we, most importantly, choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long-lived,” he added.

Apollo 13 went farther than it was supposed to go. The mission was designed to orbit and then land on the moon, but one of its oxygen tanks exploded en route, nixing that plan. Mission Control and the three Apollo 13 astronauts — Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert — revamped the flight in real time, turning it into a lunar flyby that, seemingly against all odds, managed to return safely to Earth.

Artemis 2, by contrast, is right on track. It’s a shakeout cruise designed to show that Orion can support astronauts in deep space, and today’s flyby serves to slingshot the capsule back toward Earth. Orion will come home Friday (April 10) in a splashdown off the coast of San Diego.

If all goes to plan, the first Artemis moon landing will come in late 2028, on the Artemis 4 mission (after Artemis 3 tests docking technology and techniques in low Earth orbit, or LEO). Other touchdowns will follow, helping to build a base near the moon’s south pole in the early 2030s.

Today’s distance milestone was another first in a mission full of them. Artemis 2, which launched on April 1, is the first crewed mission of NASA’s Artemis program and the first human spaceflight to go beyond LEO since Apollo 17 in 1972.

Artemis 2 pilot Victor Glover is the first person of color ever to travel beyond LEO, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen are the first woman and first non-American, respectively, to do so.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 2:08 p.m. ET on April 6 to include Hansen’s quote.