{"id":17035,"date":"2026-04-06T21:54:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T13:54:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/moon-joy-artemis-2s-crew-sets-a-distance-record-documents-lunar-far-side-and-heads-back-toward-earth\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T21:54:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T13:54:37","slug":"moon-joy-artemis-2s-crew-sets-a-distance-record-documents-lunar-far-side-and-heads-back-toward-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/moon-joy-artemis-2s-crew-sets-a-distance-record-documents-lunar-far-side-and-heads-back-toward-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Moon joy!\u2019 Artemis 2\u2019s crew sets a distance record, documents lunar far side and heads back toward Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
NASA\u2019s Artemis 2 crew captured an iconic \u201cEarthset\u201d picture, showing Earth dipping beneath the lunar horizon. (NASA Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Four astronauts today became the first humans to make a trip around the moon since the Apollo era \u2014 and added new pages to history books for the Artemis era.<\/p>\n

The Artemis 2 crew reached a maximum distance of 252,756 miles from Earth, surpassing the distance record for human travel that was set during the Apollo 13 mission in 1970 by more than 4,000 miles.<\/p>\n

NASA astronaut Christina Koch marked the occasion in a radio transmission from NASA\u2019s Orion space capsule, named Integrity. \u201cWe most importantly choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long-lived,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Koch made history as the first woman to travel beyond Earth orbit. One of her crewmates, NASA pilot Victor Glover, is the first Black astronaut to take a moon trip, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen is the first non-U.S. astronaut to do so.<\/p>\n

The main purpose of the 10-day Artemis 2 mission is to serve as an initial crewed test flight for the Orion spacecraft, which traced a similar round-the-moon course during the uncrewed Artemis 1 mission in 2022. A successful Artemis 2 mission will prepare the way for a lunar lander test flight in Earth orbit as early as next year, potentially followed in 2028 by the first crewed moon landing since Apollo.<\/p>\n

Seattle-area tech workers have played a role in getting Orion off the ground \u2014 and bringing it back home. L3Harris\u2019 Aerojet Rocketdyne facility in Redmond worked on the spacecraft\u2019s main engine and some of its thrusters, while Karman Space Systems\u2019 Mukilteo facility provided mechanisms for Orion\u2019s parachute deployment system and emergency hatch release system. <\/p>\n

Artemis 2\u2019s flight plan took advantage of orbital mechanics and a precisely timed firing of Orion\u2019s main engine to send the astronauts on a free-return trip around the moon and back. The moon\u2019s gravitational pull caused Orion to make a crucial U-turn around the far side, at a minimum distance of 4,067 miles from the lunar surface, and then slingshot back toward Earth. <\/p>\n

A scientific swing around the moon<\/h3>\n

Scientists enlisted the astronauts to make up-close geological observations of the lunar surface during the flyby. Because the Artemis astronauts had a wider perspective on the moon than Apollo astronauts did five decades ago, they could see parts of the far side that had gone unseen directly by human eyes (although they\u2019ve been well-documented by robotic probes).<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s mission commander, Reid Wiseman, found it difficult to break away from moongazing to discuss his observations over a radio link with Kelsey Young, Artemis 2\u2019s lunar science lead. \u201cYou\u2019re pulling me away from the moon right now, so let\u2019s go,\u201d he told Young.<\/p>\n

Back at Mission Control in Houston, Young took it all in good stride. \u201cI have to say that \u2018moon joy\u2019 is the new term that\u2019s already become our team\u2019s new motto,\u201d she told Wiseman.<\/p>\n

\n