Stay up to date with notifications from The IndependentNotifications can be managed in browser preferences.AllNewsSportCultureLifestyleNASA's Artemis II moon mission successfully circled the moon, reaching the farthest point from Earth any human has ever traveled. Astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Jeremy Hansen reestablished communication with Mission Control after a 41-minute blackout, expressing their awe at the views. The spacecraft, Integrity, has moved away from the moon, and the crew witnessed a solar eclipse from their unique vantage point.The crew observed a stunning eclipse, the sun's corona, and the moon illuminated by “Earthshine,” along with vivid views of stars and planets. They also reported seeing at least five meteor impacts on the moon, which caused excitement among the science team at Mission Control. In fullArtemis II live updates: NASA astronauts are in contact with mission control after passing behind the moon in comms blackoutThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in

The astronauts will arrive about 10,300 kilometers beyond our satellite, breaking all previous records for distance from Earth. But how was their route chosen?

NASA announced Saturday that the four astronauts of the Artemis II mission were closer to moon than to the Earth.