With the moon now filling their windows, the Artemis II astronauts set a record Monday as the farthest humans from Earth during a lunar flyby promising magnificent views of the far side never before witnessed.
The six-hour flyby is the highlight of NASA’s first return to the moon since the Apollo era with three Americans and one Canadian — a step toward landing boot prints near the moon’s south pole in just two years.
First came a prize — and bragging rights — for Artemis II.
Less than an hour before kicking off the fly-around and intense lunar observations, the four astronauts surpassed the distance record of 248,655 miles (400,171 kilometers) set by Apollo 13 in April 1970.
They kept going, hurtling ever farther from Earth. Before it was all over, Mission Control expected Artemis II to beat the old record by more than 4,100 miles (6,600 kilometers).
