Artemis II races to set new distance recordFLYBY: The four astronauts were set to become the most distant humans from Earth in history, surpassing the record of 400,171km set by Apollo 13 in April 1970AP, HOUSTONWith the moon looming ever larger, the Artemis II astronauts yesterday raced to set a new distance record from Earth on a lunar fly-around promising magnificent views of the far side never seen before by eye. The moon is seen in the window of the Orion spacecraft, in a photo taken by the Artemis II crew, at the end of day five of their journey to the moon yesterday. Photo: NASA via APA prize — and bragging rights — awaits Artemis II. Mission Control expected Artemis II to surpass that record by more than 6,600km. Artemis II is NASA’s first astronaut moonshot since Apollo 17 in 1972.

Source: Taipei Times April 06, 2026 17:46 UTC