<em>Updated 11:30 p.m. Eastern with call from President Trump.
WASHINGTON — Four astronauts from the United States and Canada became the humans to travel the furthest from the Earth April 6 as they went around the moon on the Artemis 2 mission.
The Orion spacecraft Integrity reached the most distant point from Earth in its trajectory at 7:02 p.m. Eastern, 406,771 kilometers. That came two minutes after the spacecraft made its closest approach to the lunar surface at a distance of 6,545 kilometers.
About six hours earlier, the spacecraft broke the record for the furthest humans have flown from Earth, set by the Apollo 13 mission 56 years ago at a distance of 400,171 kilometers.
“As we surpass the furthest distance humans have ever traveled from planet Earth, we do so in honoring the extraordinary efforts and feats of our predecessors in human space exploration,” Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen said shortly after Artemis 2 broke the Apollo 13 record.
The crew, which includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, was awakened with a recorded message from the late Jim Lovell, who commanded Apollo 13 and also flew on Apollo 8, the first human mission to orbit the moon in 1968. Lovell recorded the message several months before he died in August 2025 at the age of 97.
“Welcome to my old neighborhood,” he said. “I’m proud to pass that torch on to you as you swing around the moon.”
The four astronauts then spent the next several hours performing observations of the moon using cameras and the naked eye. They regularly checked in with scientists in Mission Control, relaying their perceptions of the color, brightness and other aspects of the lunar terrain while also taking images for later return to Earth. Cameras mounted on Orion’s solar panels provided live images during the approach, although at lower resolutions.
Those descriptions continued until Orion passed behind the moon as seen from Earth, causing a planned loss of signal with the spacecraft for about 40 minutes. Once Orion reappeared, the crew took a break from lunar observations, then monitored a solar eclipse as the moon blocked the sun from the spacecraft’s vantage point for about an hour.
That included detecting impacts of small meteoroids on the lunar surface. “We have seen three impact flashes so far,” Wiseman said while the spacecraft was still monitoring the eclipse, with another spotted moments later.
“Amazing news,” responded Kelsey Young, science team lead in Mission Control. “I literally just looked over at the SER [science evaluation room] and they were jumping up and down.”
The end of the eclipse marked the end of the science observations. “You really brought the moon closer today, and we cannot say thank you enough,” Young told the astronauts.
While the flyby around the moon was dictated by orbital mechanics after Orion performed a translunar injection burn April 2, along with a small correction maneuver late April 5, the operations of the spacecraft and the astronauts went smoothly during the event.
“At NASA, we dare to reach higher, explore farther, and achieve the impossible. That’s embodied perfectly by our Artemis II astronauts: Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy. They are charting new frontiers for all humanity,” Lori Glaze, NASA acting associate administrator for exploration systems development, said in an agency statement. “Their dedication is about more than breaking records — it’s fueling our hope for a bold future.”
About an hour after the end of the eclipse, President Trump spoke to the crew. “You’ve really inspired the entire world, really. Everybody’s watching. They find it incredible,” he said, praising the astronauts as well as NASA’s administrator, Jared Isaacman. “Your mission paves the way for America’s return to the lunar surface, very soon.”
The flyby had poignant moments as well. As Hansen marked breaking the distance record, he announced the crew’s desire to name two craters in the part of the moon the spacecraft would be flying over. One would be named Integrity after their spacecraft.
The other would be named Carroll, after the late wife of Wiseman. “A number of years ago, we started this journey and our close-knit astronaut family lost a loved one,” he said. “It’s a bright spot on the moon, and we would like to call it Carroll.”
The four astronauts, holding back tears, hugged in the middle of Orion’s cabin.