On April 6, 2026, six days into the Artemis II mission, the crew of NASA's Orion spacecraft broke the record for the farthest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth — a record held since 1970 by the Apollo 13 crew. At 12:56 p.m. CDT, the spacecraft reached 248,655 miles from home. At its farthest point, the crew will travel approximately 252,760 miles, setting a new absolute record in the history of human spaceflight.
The four aboard — NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, alongside Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen — are the first humans to travel behind the Moon and witness its far side with their own eyes. During the lunar flyby at roughly 4,070 miles from the surface, they will observe a solar eclipse as the Moon passes in front of the Sun.
Launched atop the SLS rocket from Kennedy Space Center on April 1, the mission is scheduled to conclude with splashdown off San Diego on April 10. Artemis II is more than a record-breaking flight — the data gathered will shape the development of a permanent lunar base and lay the groundwork for humanity's first crewed missions to Mars.