Astronauts aboard the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) crewed lunar mission Artemis II set a new record as the ‘humans farthest from Earth’ on the 6th (U.S. time).

According to NASA, Artemis II passed through a point in space 400,171㎞ from Earth at 1:57 p.m. that day (2:57 a.m. on the 7th, Korea time). This broke the previous record for the greatest distance from Earth, set by Apollo 13 in April 1970.

After breaking the record, Artemis II continued to approach the Moon and began observations at 2:45 p.m. that day. The astronauts started photographing 30 preselected sites on the lunar surface visible through the spacecraft windows.

As it continued photographing the lunar surface, Artemis II kept closing in on the far side of the Moon. NASA designed Artemis II to swing around the far side as if making a U-turn and head back to Earth. Under this trajectory, starting at 6:44 p.m. that day, the Artemis II vehicle moved completely behind the Moon, and communications were lost.

While out of contact, Artemis II came as close as 6,550㎞ to the lunar surface at 7:02 p.m. Five minutes later, at 7:07 p.m., it was 406,778㎞ from Earth. It was the moment a new record for the farthest crewed venture into space was set.

Having turned toward Earth, Artemis II emerged from the far side of the Moon and, at 7:25 p.m., successfully resumed communications with Earth. Artemis II astronaut Christina Koch said to NASA mission control, “Houston, we can hear your voices clearly. We are really glad to hear news from Earth again.”

She added, “We (humanity) will explore, we will build spacecraft, and we will return to establish a scientific outpost,” expressing hope for future lunar development.