Apr 06, 2026
3 min read
The Artemis 2 astronauts just became the farthest humans have ever traveled from Earth.Just before 19:57. (Spain time) Reed Wiseman, Christina...
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The astronauts of Artemis 2 have just become humans in order to travel the furthest point from Earth.Shortly before 7:57 p.m.(Spanish time) Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Jeremy Hansen have broken the record set by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970, when they traveled 400,171 kilometers from Earth.It is estimated that the crew will exceed this record by approximately 6,600 km throughout the day, reaching a distance of 406,800 km.
"Now, for the sake of all humanity, you're going beyond that limit," said Jenny Gibbons of mission control in Houston.Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, the first non-American to walk on the moon, responded:“We do this in honor of the extraordinary efforts and achievements of our predecessors in human space exploration.back to what we love.But, most importantly, making sure this generation and the next record is unassailable."
Five days after its spectacular launch from Florida, the Orion spacecraft sent humans to the moon for the first time in half a century. Spanish engineer Carlos García Galán, a member of the Artemis 2 team from the Houston Mission Center, summed up, "We will see something historic".1972. Astronauts will orbit satellites, and the closest they will be at 6,500 to 7,000 kilometers from the surface of the satellite.
Around 8:45 p.m. (Spanish time) the crew began to see its hidden side, the most interesting part of our satellite, which has conquered the imagination of scientific writers, is full of military secrets, or has become a security of intelligence for other ships.
This morning, astronauts received a special message recorded by Apollo 8 and Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell for the mission before his death in 2025: "Hello, Artemis II! I'm Jim Lovell, Apollo astronaut. Welcome to the old neighborhood! When Frank Borman, Bill Anders, and I orbited the Moon aboard Apollo 8, humanity got the first close-up view of the Moon and a perspective of our planet that inspired and united people around the world. I'm proud to pass the baton to themThey orbit the Moon and lay the foundation for missions to Mars to benefit everyone.
NASA stated that because "the human eye and brain are very sensitive to subtle changes in color, texture, and other surface properties," "direct observations and scientific advances in recent decades may reveal new discoveries and provide a deeper understanding of lunar surface properties."
Because of the limited space in the Orion spacecraft's window, the team is divided into pairs, with two members observing for 55 to 85 minutes, while the other two do other work.
At 1:02 a.m.in Spain, mission control in Houston was expected to temporarily lose contact with the astronauts when Orion passed behind the Moon. If all goes according to plan, the interruption of communications will last approximately 45 minutes. At this time, the astronauts will be closer to the Moon and reach the farthest point from Earth at 01:05 hours, reaching 406,778 kilometers.
NASA estimates that at this distance, astronauts will see a Moon roughly the size of a basketball held at arm's length.
Solar eclipse in the background
One of the most spectacular moments the Artemis II astronauts will experience will be something impossible from Earth: a reverse solar eclipse.Earth passes by the Sun and hides it.Sunset on the planet projected at the same time.It is the same phenomenon that turns the moon into a "blood moon" during a lunar eclipse that we see from Earth, but observed from the other side.
No astronauts on the Apollo missions witnessed a total eclipse for this type of lunar orbit, simply because the paths and calendars of those missions simply did not match the phenomenon.
The outer side of the moon presents a completely different landscape than what we see from Earth.Although the visible side is the moon's vast oceans—the vast dark plains formed by past eruptions—the far side is mostly cratered plateaus.The main reason is the terrain: there the lunar crust is thick so that the magma inside does not flow faster than outside.As a result, the surface preserves more impacts, a kind of natural archive that records billions of years of collisions with asteroids and comets, when the solar system was a very dangerous place.
Astronauts have proposed renaming some of the moon's landforms after the Orion spacecraft, called Integrity, as well as Commander Reed Wiseman's wife, who died in 2020. Wiseman, the father of two daughters he has been caring for since his widowhood, wept.The astronauts hugged and a moment of silence was observed at Mission Control in Houston.“Carol integrity and potholes came out loud and clear.Thank you,” Gibbons said.
Interestingly, Jim Lovell, the astronaut who left a posthumous note to the crew, named a second crater after his wife, Marilyn, in 1968.
Artemis II astronauts observed kilometers of geological structures, although only 20% were illuminated.Everyone was looking through the windows for subtle changes in color and luster that suggested its mineral composition and age, singing out loud to the command center in Houston as they snapped pictures.
Among them will be the Eastern Basin, the largest and youngest impact crater on the Moon.Its size suggests that the object that created it was able to mine material from the deep layers of the Moon.About 930 km in diameter, it has a spectacular structure of concentric mountain rings, as if a rock had fallen into a lake and the waves had frozen into stone.It is precisely this preservation that makes it so valuable to scientists: that much is clear to us.enables the study of how high-impact basins are formed
Therefore, this area is one of the most interesting places for research: the study of its rocks can show about the internal composition of the satellite and about the processes that occurred more than 4000 million years ago.
But the side of the moon has scientific value that goes beyond geology.Being permanently shielded from electromagnetic disturbances from Earth, it is the quietest place in the nearby Solar System from an electromagnetic point of view.This feature makes it a perfect place to install radio telescopes capable of picking up weak signals coming from space and studying the universe, something that is impossible from our planet.Added to this is the attraction of the moon's southern girdle, where there are craters that have never received sunlight and may hold deposits of water ice accumulated over billions of years.This ice will be the main source of human resources in the future.Therefore, the far side of the moon not only preserves the memory of the early days, but can also be one of the best scientific platforms for exploring the universe.
Once the observing period is over, the astronauts will begin sending some images back to Earth, which NASA's science team will review at night and discuss with the crew the next day.
The Artemis II test flight will validate the systems needed to support astronauts in deep space exploration and pave the way for establishing a permanent presence on the Moon.
After observing the Moon, the ship will begin its journey back to Earth, a journey that will last four more days and culminate with the ship's descent into the Pacific on Friday, April 10 (April 11 in Spain).
NASA has made a tool called AROW available to the public that allows anyone to track the Orion spacecraft in real time and see how far they are from the Moon and Earth.
