A stunning photo from the far side of the moon, captured from Orion spacecraft of Earth (NASA)

On Monday, 6 April, at 1:56 pm EDT, the four-strong crew of the Artemis II test flight achieved a historic milestone by reaching a distance of 248,655 miles from Earth.

This feat officially broke the record for the farthest distance ever travelled by humans, a title previously held by the Apollo 13 mission since 1970.

The mission began at 6:35 pm EDT on 1 April, when the spacecraft lifted off from launch pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The international crew consists of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, alongside Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency.

Having now concluded a seven-hour flyby of the Moon, the Orion spacecraft has officially departed the lunar sphere of influence. This term describes the region where the Moon's gravitational pull is stronger than that of the Earth. With this stage complete, the crew members are now on their return journey home.

Throughout the flight, the astronauts have been engaging in live conversations that were scheduled before their departure. They are currently more than halfway through the mission and are focusing on putting the Orion spacecraft through an extensive series of planned tests.

These evaluations cover a wide range of critical systems including life support, propulsion, power, thermal management, and navigation. The crew is responsible for conducting manual operations, monitoring automated activities, and performing proximity operations to assess the spacecraft's performance in deep space.

In addition to technical testing, the astronauts are assessing the habitability and crew interfaces of the vessel. They are also participating in various science activities, such as human health studies and observations of the lunar surface, which are intended to guide science operations for future missions to the Moon.

The crew is also practising essential mission-critical tasks, such as making trajectory adjustments and managing communications at lunar distances. These activities include piloting Orion during vital flight phases to validate the spacecraft’s performance with a crew on board.

The mission is set to conclude with a controlled re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. The spacecraft is scheduled to splash down in the waters off the coast of San Diego at approximately 8:07 pm EDT on Friday, 10 April.

Agencies