Artemis II

🚀 LIVE FROM SPACE: President Donald J. Trump Calls Artemis II Astronauts After Breaking the Farthest Distance Record in Human Spaceflight 🇺🇸 HISTORIC! "Your mission paves the way for America's return to the lunar surface very soon."

NASA Artemis passing close to the Moon

Approaching the near side of the Moon. The Artemis II astronauts have surpassed the record for the distance from Earth at 1:56 ET (1756 UTC). This record was previously set during the Apollo 13 mission when the astronauts traveled 248,655 miles from Earth. The Moon continues to grow larger and larger in the windows of the Orion spacecraft as the Artemis II mission gears up to observe the far side. The astronauts are predicted to make their closest approach of the Moon around 7:02pm ET (2302 UTC).

Make new friends, but keep the old. A new photo captures the Moon's near side on the right (the side we see from Earth, identifiable by its dark splotches) and its far side on the left. The Artemis II crew are the first to see the far side with human eyes.