NASA's Artemis II crew ventured the farthest astronauts have ever traveled from Earth at 1:56 p.m. EDT Monday on a flyby of the Moon filled with a handheld picture-taking mission.
Surpassing the record set by Apollo 13 in 1970 by more than 4,000 miles, they reached 252,757 miles from Earth during the sixth day of their 10-day mission that began April 1.
NASA astronauts Redi Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen, make up the Artemis II crew, flying the Orion spacecraft, which they have dubbed Integrity.
"As we surpassed the farthest distance humans have ever passed from Earth... we will continue our journey...But we most importantly choose this moment to make sure this record is not long lived," Hansen said.
Also Monday, the four astronauts began observing both near and far sides of the moon for a seven-hour period. During that period, astronauts used 17 high definition handheld cameras equipped with optical sensors and various lenses and SD cards to photograph craters and other features on the lunar surface. (Orion has 32 cameras in all, with about half mounted to the spacecraft itself.) The astronauts worked in pairs comparing notes about the human experience of viewing mountains and craters up close. One astronaut said using the zoom on his camera felt like he was "walking up and down the ridges."
At 6:43 p.m. EDT, mission control lost communication with the crew for about 40 minutes as the Orion spacecraft passed behind the Moon.
The Moon blocked the radio signals needed for the Deep Space Network to maintain contact with the spacecraft. Toward the end of the observation, the crew witnessed a solar eclipse from space as Orion, the Moon and Sun aligned. The Sun disappeared behind the Moon for nearly an hour.