The crew of the Artemis II made history on Monday, April 6 after they broke the record for the greatest distance any humans have ever traveled from Earth. (The previous record, set by the Apollo 13 mission in April 1970, was 248,655 statute miles.) After they reached that milestone, the four astronauts, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, then accomplished another first yet giant leap for humankind: They completely circled the Earth’s moon, making it the first time that human eyes have ever seen the dark side of the moon. Each crew member took turns taking pictures and describing what they were seeing during their fly by. In transmissions they sent back to ground control in Houston, they described what they saw as “unreal” and “absolutely unbelievable.”
NASA’s Artemis II — the first crewed lunar mission in more than half a century — made history on its trip around the moon on Monday afternoon.
The four-member crew — NASA commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian space agency mission specialist Jeremy Hansen — surpassed the record for the farthest distance from Earth traveled by humans, set by Apollo 13 in 1970 at 248,655 statute miles.
“We will continue our journey even further into space before Mother Earth succeeds in pulling us back to everything that we hold dear,” Hansen told mission control. “But we, most importantly, choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long-lived.”
The crew also proposed naming one of the moon’s previously unnamed craters in honor of Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll Wiseman.
“It’s a bright spot on the moon, and we would like to call that Carroll,” Hansen said,
During their seven-hour lunar flyby, the Artemis II astronauts took photos and made observations from the Orion spacecraft, dubbed Integrity, which lost contact with mission control for about 40 minutes as it passed behind the moon. The crew members became part of that elite group of humans who have ever witnessed an “Earthrise” as they cleared the far side of the moon.
The Orion is now officially on its way back to Earth. The 10-day mission is due to conclude on Friday, when Artemis II makes its reentry before a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.
To borrow a quote from my new favorite book and movie, Project Hail Mary, “Amaze, amaze, amaze!” I’ve been following Artemis II’s journey since it launched and have obsessively refreshed NASA’s social media accounts all week. I was enthralled watching Monday’s Moonday’s livestream and every milestone made me so happy and emotional! I teared up when they asked to name the moon’s bright spot after Cap. Weisman’s late wife and then the sound cut out as they all hugged him. Listening to a voice memo that the late Jim Lovell, who served as Apollo 13’s captain, recorded for them in June 2025, just two months before passing, was also a heavy moment. I know that things are really sh-tty on Earth right now, but Artemis II’s mission gave me a rare thrill of hope in our weary world. I also got choked up at Victor Glover’s final words right before they lost signal when reaching the moon’s dark side: ”To all of you down there on Earth…we love you from the moon.”
We see our home planet as a whole, lit up in spectacular blues and browns. A green aurora even lights up the atmosphere. That's us, together, watching as our astronauts make their journey to the Moon. pic.twitter.com/6JkKufBgtJ
— NASA (@NASA) April 3, 2026
photos credit: Best Image/Backgrid, Atlas Photo Archive/NASA/Avalon
I watched the mission on youtube and when they talked about naming the bright crater after the astronaut’s wife, all the astronauts were deeply affected. What an amazing tribute.
…Then I took a screenshot (duh) that showed the moon in the foreground and a sliver of earth in the background. Because that picture is just absolutely awe inspiring.
I was wondering why they were going back to the moon. Makes more sense now. Thank you!
Absolutely stunning. I’ve enjoyed every minute of this mission.
I am so enjoying this and watchimg on tv.amazing
It was a beautiful moment when I got to tell my little daughter that one of the astronauts going further than any human ever has in space was a woman. Girls can do anything!
We had the Netflix live feed on from 1pm EST until when they lost contact. I did check back in 40 minutes later to make sure they were okay!
Thanks for the great coverage of this awesome adventure.
When I saw them hug after asking to name the crater after his wife, I had tears in my eyes. They hugged, supported each other and tried to make the world kinder….THIS is what humanity is supposed to be doing.
So much time wasted on wars, hate, oil, fighting….its beyond horrible.
Thank goodness for this bright little spot in our days.
This is amazing. A Black pilot. A woman. A Canadian. And I love that they named the bright spot on the moon Carroll. They are amazing. From there you can’t see the chaos, the wars, the destruction we humans are causing. The Earth just looks peaceful and serene. It’s so beautiful.
After all the BS on Fox News and with Idiotic MAGA podcasters about Black pilots and women pilots, this is our moment. We are excellent in every way. We are not shrinking to coddle their fragility and become an easier pill to swallow. They can choke.
I got 100% caught up in all of this. Safe travels home.
Just incredible. Absolutely stunning. I have goosebumps and tears in my eyes. With a black pilot and a woman mission specialist, no less. Such an incredible achievement for humanity!
As an aside – I recently finished a wonderful book (fiction) called “Atmosphere” by Taylor Jenkins Reid about a woman entering the space program in the 1980s, and it was spectacular. I highly recommend if anyone is interested in continuing to read about NASA and the space program.
Jim Lovell’s voice memo really got to me. And it’s his record they broke so I know he was thrilled about that prospect, finally, more than anyone. How wonderful he was able to record that.
Listening to astronauts – and Mission Control – get excited and awed about what they were seeing was wonderful. I was able to watch the solar eclipse they were seeing live, heard them talk about the stars and planets they were seeing (Mars looked orange to them!). And they saw meteors hit the moon (landing flashes), which got everyone excited (made me a bit nervous for them although I know the odds are, literally, astronomical).
It reminded me how much I love NASA and space exploration and how amazing it is when we fund these government programs effectively. I loved they named the program Artemis, after Apollo. I’m in awe of all the pictures. I got to see a shuttle landing once when I was a kid, and I felt like a kid again, listening. Godspeed and wishing them a safe journey home.
And I absolutely used this as an example of what we could be when we strive for more as opposed to tearing things down when I called my reps, condemning the Iran strikes as well as the proposed cuts to NASA.
(They’re not the first to see the far side of the moon, right? Just the latest of only a handful, although I don’t know if there were any of the Apollo astronauts still alive? John Glenn orbited the moon, along with others, and I believe Lovell and Apollo 13 used the gravitational pull effect to slingshot them back home.)
I’m curious to know if they got a similar message from the Apollo 13 astronaut who is still alive–Fred Haise.
A couple of corrections just because I love this mission so much and I’m following it rapidly. The spacecraft is not called Artemis II. Artemis II is the name of the mission. They are traveling in an Orion capsule, which was launched by the SLS rocket system. The Orion capsule is powered by the European Space Module which provides thrust. This crew have named their Orion capsule “Integrity.” So the names Orion and Integrity are used pretty interchangeable for the vessel they are the crew of.
And, they are not the first to fly around the back of the moon. This was done regularly during Apollo missions. They are not orbiting the moon either. They flew a trajectory farther past the back of the moon than any other crewed mission and were also able to fly over and observe a different part of the dark side, that has not been observed by any other crew.
Anyway I respect them immensely and the Artemis program and I guess thank god DOGE didn’t gut NASA!
So glad a woman and a man of color were included, as they should have been. None of that anti-DEI shit where only white men get opportunities and promotions. I guess Trump was busy planning for the destruction of Iran and didn’t have time to remove the two .
The black man and white woman were not the only ‘DEI hires’, there is also a… Canadian!!!!!
Trump was too late to remove them, it takes years to train an astronaut for a mission such as this one.
So we can thank Biden for the diverse astronaut cast!
So far I’d say they’re doing a much better job than Trump’s DEI purged cabinet… particularly his white male buffoon-filled ‘Department of War’!
I am so angry that George Clooney shit all over President Biden and he withdrew his candidacy for a few verbal errors. I’d STILL rather have Biden at the helm than that son-of-a-bitch madman that we have now. Biden was normal and would have good, normal people guide this country, including himself. God damn it.
Hear hear, JFerber