Artemis II begins journey home following record-breaking lunar flyby
The crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission is en route back to Earth after breaking the record for the furthest distance travelled by humans from our planet.
An image of the Moon taken from Orion, including parts of the far side (to the left of the picture) which cannot be seen from Earth – NASA
On Monday, 6 April, the Orion spacecraft carrying the four astronauts achieved its furthest point from Earth, having travelled 252,756 miles. Earlier in the day, the crew had broken the previous distance record of 248,655 miles, set by the historic Apollo 13 mission in 1970. The Artemis II crew was in radio blackout for approximately 40 minutes as it travelled around the far side of the Moon, out of reach from NASA’s Deep Space Network.
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“From the cabin of Integrity here, as we surpass the furthest distance humans have ever travelled from planet Earth, we do so in honouring the extraordinary efforts and feats of our predecessors in human space exploration,” said CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, as Orion eclipsed the Apollo 13 record.
“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.”
Artemis II is now six days into its mission after launching from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida at 18:35 ET (23:35 BST) on 1 April. During the lunar flyby, the Orion capsule – nicknamed ‘Integrity’ by the crew – came within 4,067 miles of the lunar surface, providing spectacular views of the Moon. A fleet of cameras was used to capture imagery, including features never directly seen before by humans.
Orion entered the lunar sphere of influence at the tail end of the fifth day of the mission. That marked the point at which the Moon’s gravity had a stronger pull on the spacecraft than the Earth’s.
Photos, videos, mission telemetry, and communication information the test flight will be used to inform future Artemis missions as well as potential locations for NASA’s proposed moon base. The Artemis II crew has also proposed naming one lunar crater ‘Integrity’ in honour of their spacecraft, and another in honour of Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman’s late wife Carroll, who died in 2020. Once the mission is complete, the crater name proposals will be formally submitted to the International Astronomical Union.
“They are charting new frontiers for all humanity,” said Dr Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters in Washington.
“Their dedication is about more than breaking records – it’s fuelling our hope for a bold future. Their mission is carrying our promise to return to the Moon’s surface, this time to stay as we establish a moon base.”
After travelling back through cislunar space, the Artemis II crew is set to splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego at approximately 17:07 PDT on Friday, 10 April (01:07 BST, Saturday, 11 April).
