- Nasa’s Artemis II astronauts have set a new record, traveling further from Earth than any other human has ever before.
- The Orion spacecraft’s four-person crew surpassed the distance record of 248,655 miles (400,171 kilometers) set by Apollo 13 in April 1970.
- The Artemis II crew broke the record just before 2 p.m. EST/7 p.m. BST on Monday as they get ready for the highlight of the Nasa mission, a flyby of the moon.
- The crew is expected to reach their maximum distance from Earth of 252,760 miles from Earth at 7:07 p.m./12:07 a.m. BST, surpassing Apollo 13’s record by more than 4,100 miles (6,600 kilometers).
- Artemis II is set to use the same maneuver – a so-called “free-turn trajectory” – that Apollo 13 did after its “Houston, we’ve had a problem” oxygen tank explosion wiped out any hope of a moon landing.
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