NASA’s Orion spacecraft has broken the record for the farthest distance humans have traveled from Earth, surpassing the mark set by Apollo 13 in 1970. The four astronauts on board the spacecraft, led by Commander Reid Wiseman, completed a historic seven-hour lunar flyby on Monday.
During their journey, the crew observed and photographed the moon’s surface from the Orion spacecraft’s windows, describing it as “a different color” than expected. They also witnessed a solar eclipse and captured stunning images of the Earth and moon from space.
The Artemis II mission is testing the Orion spacecraft’s systems and evaluating how deep space travel affects the human body. The crew will need to validate the spacecraft’s handling capabilities and its Crew Survival System to protect them throughout the mission.
After passing behind the moon, the Orion spacecraft temporarily lost contact with NASA’s mission control for about 40 minutes. The crew made remarks on setting a new record and proposed naming one of the moon’s craters after Commander Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll.
The Artemis II crew will reach their maximum distance from Earth later in the day and make their reentry into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.
Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/science/live/artemis-ii-live-updates-nasas-moon-mission-breaks-apollo-record-for-farthest-distance-humans-have-traveled-from-earth-144657664.html