The four astronauts aboard NASA’s Artemis II test flight made history by surpassing the record for the farthest distance from Earth.
The astronauts set the record at 9:07 am AEST when they were around 406,778km from Earth.
“At NASA, we dare to reach higher, explore farther, and achieve the impossible. That’s embodied perfectly by our Artemis II astronauts – Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy. They are charting new frontiers for all humanity,” Dr. Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said.
This came after Artemis II lost contact with Earth for around 40 minutes.
This mission is also the first time in over half a decade that a human crew has gone to the moon.
While the astronauts won’t land on the moon, they will do a loop around it and take never-before-seen photos of the Earth and the moon. This will also inform future Artemis missions as NASA attempts to build its first-ever moon base.
The mission comes as the United States ramps up efforts to reassert space leadership amid growing competition from China, which is making progress towards its own moon landing in 2030.
NASA aims to have humans set foot on the moon in 2028 and stimulate a commercial lunar market in the future.
