The lunar mission Artemis 2 completed the highlight of its lunar orbit on Tuesday night – the passage behind the Earth’s satellite. The four astronauts in the Orion capsule set a new distance record: at the furthest point of their figure-eight orbit they were around 406,771 kilometers from Earth. The previous record holder, Apollo 13, “only” reached 400,171 kilometers in 1970. As they orbited the Moon, the Artemis 2 crew observed an Earthset, an Earthrise, and even a solar eclipse in which the Moon obscured the Sun for nearly an hour.
The Artemis 2 lunar mission, which launched on April 1, 2026, is still going according to plan. The Orion capsule with the four astronauts on board was brought from Earth orbit onto a lunar course on the night of Good Friday by igniting the engines of the European Service Module ESM. Since then, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Cristina Koch and Jeremy Hansen have been moving around the moon in a so-called free return orbit – a figure-of-eight trajectory that will bring them back to Earth without additional thrust or braking maneuvers. The astronauts spent the Easter days testing the Orion capsule and preparing to orbit the moon.
Record broken by Apollo 13
Yesterday evening, the lunar mission reached another milestone: Shortly before its passage behind the moon, the space capsule passed the previous distance record for manned space travel: In 1970, the three astronauts of the famous Apollo 13 mission had traveled 400,171 kilometers from Earth for the first time – the furthest any human had ever traveled before them. The NASA mission was supposed to land on the moon, but failed due to an explosion, battery damage and a life-threatening lack of power. Thanks to the clear return path and some improvised solutions, astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise still made it back to Earth safely.
Now the four astronauts of the Artemis 2 mission have broken the distance record set by these three. At the furthest point of its orbit, the Orion capsule was around 406,771 kilometers from Earth. Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen radioed to Earth from the Orion capsule: “As we fly the furthest distance ever traveled by man, we do so in honor of the extraordinary efforts and achievements of our predecessors in manned space travel,” said the astronaut. “We want to use this moment to challenge this generation and those following it not to let this record stand for long.”
Flight behind the moon
At around 12:45 a.m. tonight, the Artemis 2 mission reached the moon and began its orbit. For around 40 minutes, the Orion capsule with the four astronauts could no longer be reached by radio from Earth because it was behind the moon as seen from Earth. Shortly before, the crew was able to admire the setting of the earth: they saw the earth gradually disappearing behind the lunar horizon. During their passage behind the moon, the astronauts photographed and mapped the lunar surface – some areas of which no human has ever seen before. During this orbit the space capsule approached the lunar surface to around 6,545 kilometers. Shortly after the end of the lunar passage, the astronauts observed the Earth rising behind the moon.
At around 2:35 a.m. our time, Wiseman, Glover, Koch and Hansen witnessed another celestial spectacle: a solar eclipse. Over the course of around an hour, the sun passed behind the moon, which was still close to it. This gave the team a good view of the solar corona – the outer atmosphere of the sun that extends beyond the moon. During this time, the astronauts were also able to observe six flashes of light on the lunar surface caused by meteorite impacts, as NASA reports. The first photos and video recordings from the orbit of the moon are expected later today. The Artemis 2 mission is now on its way back to Earth. On the night of April 11th, if everything goes according to plan, she will hit the water in the Pacific.
Source: NASA