NASA’s Artemis II mission, which is travelling around the far side of the moon, has set a new record for the farthest distance humans have traveled from Earth. The Orion spacecraft, carrying four astronauts, reached about 252,752 miles from Earth during a flyby of the Moon’s far side, surpassing the Apollo 13 record of 248,655 miles set in 1970. The milestone was achieved yesterday at 11:27 PM India Standard Time.
American Space Agency, NASA, in a social media post said, the crew is now on a seven-hour lunar flyby, observing the Moon’s far side and studying features like Reiner Gamma and the Glushko crater. Astronauts are working in shifts and have noticed new shades of brown and blue on the Moon’s surface, offering clues about its history.
In a blog post of NASA, one of the crew member, Astronaut Christina Koch described the Moon as browner than it appears from Earth, with some craters looking like lampshades with tiny holes. The crew also includes Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Jeremy Hansen.
The Artemis II mission is a key step in NASA’s plan to return humans to the Moon and prepare for future deep space exploration.
