**HOUSTON, TX –** The four astronauts aboard NASA's Artemis II mission have made history by traveling farther from Earth than any humans before, surpassing a deep space distance record held for more than five decades by the Apollo 13 crew. On Monday, April 6, 2026, Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch of NASA, alongside Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), completed a critical lunar flyby and are now on their return trajectory to Earth following an approximately 10-day journey.

The pivotal moment arrived at 1:57 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 6, when the Orion spacecraft, named "Integrity" by the crew, crossed the threshold of 248,655 miles (400,171 kilometers) from Earth, a record previously set by the Apollo 13 mission in April 1970. The Artemis II crew continued to push the boundaries, reaching a maximum distance of approximately 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometers) from their home planet before the Moon's gravity gracefully swung them back toward Earth. This achievement marks a significant step forward in humanity's renewed exploration of deep space, laying crucial groundwork for future lunar and Martian endeavors.

During their close approach to the Moon, the crew's Orion capsule passed approximately 4,067 miles (6,545 kilometers) above the lunar surface at 7:02 p.m. EDT on April 6. This unprecedented vantage point offered the astronauts breathtaking views of the Moon's far side, some areas never before seen directly by human eyes. For roughly 40 minutes during this flyby, Orion entered a planned communications blackout as the Moon temporarily blocked signals between the spacecraft and Earth's Deep Space Network. Amidst this solitude, the crew observed and photographed several lunar features, including the immense Orientale Basin, a 600-mile-wide crater stretching across the Moon's near and far sides. They also reportedly witnessed a rare solar eclipse as the Moon passed in front of the Sun from their perspective.

The historic mission is not just about breaking distance records, but also about expanding the boundaries of human diversity in space. Victor Glover is the first person of color, Christina Koch is the first woman, and Jeremy Hansen is the first non-American to venture beyond low Earth orbit. Their journey comes after a launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 1, 2026, marking the first crewed flight of NASA's Artemis program and the first time humans have traveled beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. As the capsule embarked on its return journey, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen radioed to Mission Control, expressing the crew's awe, "It is blowing my mind what you can see with the naked eye from the moon right now. It is just unbelievable." He then issued a powerful challenge: "We most importantly choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long-lived".

The Artemis II mission is a critical test flight, verifying the capabilities of the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft's life-support systems with a human crew onboard in the harsh environment of deep space. It leverages a free-return trajectory, similar to Apollo 13's path, which uses the gravitational forces of Earth and the Moon to propel the spacecraft home, minimizing fuel consumption. This mission directly paves the way for the ambitious goals of the Artemis program, including establishing a long-term human presence on the Moon and ultimately, sending astronauts to Mars.

As the crew makes its four-day journey back to Earth, a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean is anticipated on or around April 11, 2026, marking the conclusion of this groundbreaking test flight. The success of Artemis II sets the stage for future missions: Artemis III, expected in 2027, will involve another Orion crew practicing docking with lunar landers in orbit, leading to the culminating Artemis IV mission in 2028, which aims to land two astronauts near the Moon's south pole. The data and experiences gathered by Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen are invaluable, providing critical insights that will propel humanity further into the solar system than ever before.