Artemis II
Artemis II sets the human distance record during its lunar flyby
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Original prompt & settings (JSON) ↗They passed Apollo 13's mark at lunchtime in Houston, then kept going for another five hours before reaching maximum distance.
Two separate moments, five hours apart
At 1:56 p.m. EDT on 6 April 2026, Integrity passed 248,655 miles from Earth, exceeding the record Apollo 13 set in 1970.
The maximum came later. At about 7:02 p.m. EDT the four astronauts reached 252,756 miles (406,771 km) — 4,101 miles beyond Apollo 13 on NASA's final figures.
NASA's live page briefly reported the margin as 4,111 miles; the agency's final published distances differ by 4,101.
Behind the Moon
Two minutes before that maximum, at 7:00 p.m. EDT, Orion passed about 4,067 miles above the lunar surface during a planned communications blackout of roughly 40 minutes.
Just before the Moon cut off radio contact, pilot Victor Glover told Earth the crew would still feel its love and would see everyone on the other side.
The spacecraft flew behind the Moon but neither entered lunar orbit nor landed.
Six flashes on the dark side
The crew photographed and described far-side craters, lava flows, fractures, ridges and colour differences, and watched an Earthset followed by an Earthrise.
As the flyby ended they observed a solar eclipse and reported six flashes, interpreted as meteoroids striking the Moon's unlit surface.
The astronauts proposed names for two small craters, Integrity and Carroll — the latter for Commander Wiseman's late wife — but NASA said formal proposals would still have to go to the International Astronomical Union.
Sources
Researched 24 Aug 2026 5 sources not yet audited
How this was checked
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What the sources leave uncertain
- NASA's live page briefly stated that the crew was 4,111 miles beyond Apollo 13, but NASA's final figures—252,756 and 248,655 miles—differ by 4,101 miles. The final figures should control.
- The crater names were suggestions, not official names on April 6.