According to BBC News, the four-member crew aboard National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Artemis II mission is heading back to Earth after completing a landmark journey around the Moon that has taken humans farther from the planet than ever before.
Travelling in the Orion spacecraft capsule, the astronauts set a new record for human space travel distance, surpassing the previous mark of 248,655 miles, which had stood since the Apollo 13 mission in 1970.
Travelling in the Orion spacecraft capsule, the astronauts set a new record for human space travel distance, surpassing the previous mark of 248,655 miles, which had stood since the Apollo 13 mission in 1970.
Shortly after re-establishing communication, the spacecraft moved within a few thousand miles of the Moon’s surface, giving the astronauts a rare close-up view of its terrain. The team also witnessed a striking total solar eclipse as the Moon completely blocked the Sun’s light.
Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen reflected on the moment, saying, “As we surpass the furthest distance humans have ever traveled from planet Earth, we do so in honoring the extraordinary efforts and feats of our predecessors in human space exploration.”
As the Moon filled the windows of the spacecraft, the astronauts documented what they saw using cameras, sketches, and voice recordings. Their observations included areas on the Moon’s far side — the region that permanently faces away from Earth and has never been directly seen by human eyes before.
Although unmanned satellites have previously captured images of the far side, this marks the first time astronauts have personally observed some of its craters and ancient lava plains.
Following the successful flyby, Donald Trump congratulated the crew, telling them, “Today, you’ve made history and made all America really proud, incredibly proud.”
Commander Reid Wiseman described the experience as unforgettable, saying, “We saw sights that no human has ever seen, not even Apollo, and that was amazing for us.”
In an emotional moment during the mission, Hansen requested that two lunar craters be given names. One was proposed as Integrity, after the crew’s capsule, while another was suggested in memory of Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll, who passed away in 2020.
The mission also carried an extensive imaging setup, including professional DSLR cameras with wide-angle and zoom lenses, video units mounted on the spacecraft’s solar arrays, and smartphones used by the astronauts to capture daily life inside the capsule.
According to NASA, much of the imagery and video footage collected during the journey will be released later in the mission or upon the crew’s return to Earth.
One of the most tense moments came as the spacecraft moved behind the Moon, severing radio and laser communications with mission control.
Before the blackout, pilot Victor Glover sent a heartfelt message to Earth: “As we prepare to go out of radio communication, we’re still going to feel your love from Earth… we love you, from the Moon. We will see you on the other side.”
Mission controllers, families, and viewers around the world then waited anxiously for the signal to return, marking one of the most dramatic moments of the mission so far.