Artemis II astronauts break distance record

Now on day six, the Artemis II crew has reached a maximum distance of roughly 252,000 miles from Earth

(CNN)- The NASA Artemis II mission is making history, as the crew travels farther from Earth than any humans before

President Donald  Trump spoke with the astronauts Monday, congratulating both the crew and mission teams for what he called an “incredible, historic mission.”

He also emphasized the broader goal of the program, signaling future plans beyond the current mission.

“We’ll plant our flag once again. We’ll establish a permanent presence on the moon, and we’ll push on to Mars,” he added.

Now on day six, the Artemis II crew has reached a maximum distance of roughly 252,000 miles from Earth—surpassing the record set during the Apollo 13 mission in 1970.

The milestone marks a major step forward in human space exploration, as the mission pushes deeper into space than any crewed flight in history.

As the spacecraft passed behind the moon, astronauts experienced one of the longest communication blackouts in human spaceflight—lasting about 40 minutes.

While out of contact, the crew witnessed several rare and historic events:

A view of Earthrise from deep space, total solar eclipse, and a unprecedented look at the moon’s far side.

Astronaut Jeremy Hansen described the stark differences between the near and far sides of the moon.

“The gravitational pull of the Earth has had a profound effect on the near side of the moon. It’s very different on the far side,” Hansen said.

He noted the absence of large dark plains—known as maria—on the far side, highlighting terrain that remains largely unexplored by human observation..