The Artemis II astronauts will set a new distance record from Earth today
On April 15th, 1970, Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert set a distance record when Apollo 13 traveled 248,655 miles from Earth. Nearly 56 years later, the crew of Artemis II is expected to break that record by several thousand miles when the Orion spacecraft reaches a maximum distance of 252,7...
By Andrew LiszewskiApril 6, 2026229 views
Image: The Verge
Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman looks back at Earth from one of the Orion spacecraft’s main cabin windows. | Image: NASA
On April 15th, 1970, Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert set a distance record when Apollo 13 traveled 248,655 miles from Earth. Nearly 56 years later, the crew of Artemis II is expected to break that record by several thousand miles when the Orion spacecraft reaches a maximum distance of 252,757 miles away from Earth later today as it completes its flight around the far side of the Moon.
NASA's coverage of the lunar flyby begins at 1PM ET today if you want to follow along at home, while the astronauts are expected to set the new distance record from Earth at 1:56PM ET. The trip around the far side of the Moon will take about six hours …
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