Artemis II astronauts become the humans who have traveled farthest from Earth
The Artemis II crew broke the record set by the Apollo 13 mission of the 1970s, and are expected to beat it by 4,105 miles (6,606 kilometers) when they reach the planned maximum distance of this journey from Earth, 252,760 miles (406,778 kilometers), later today.
Photo provided by a member of the Artemis II crew and provided by NASA.
The four astronauts who embarked on NASA's lunar flyby on Monday became the farthest humans to travel beyond the planet, as they began documenting areas of the moon never before seen with the naked eye.
The Artemis II team beat the record set by the 1970s Apollo 13 mission, and are expected to surpass it by 4,105 miles (6,606 kilometers) when they reach the planned maximum distance of this journey from Earth, 252,760 miles (406,778 kilometers), later today.
"Today, for all humanity, you're pushing beyond that frontier," said Jenni Gibbons in Houston's mission control.
It was one of the most remarkable accomplishments of the trip so far.
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The Artemis II mission begins the final phase of its approach to the Moon
Diane Hernández
Astronaut Jeremy Hansen said the time was ripe "to challenge this generation and the next, to make sure this record is not long-lived."
The crew proposed to designate two previously unnamed craters: one in honor of the nickname they had given their spacecraft, "Integrity."
They offered a second name, "Carroll," for another crater, requesting that it be named after the late wife of the mission commander Reid Wiseman, who died of cancer.
"It's a bright spot on the Moon," said Hansen, his voice breaking with emotion. "And we would like to call it Carroll."
The astronauts embraced, and the mission control center in Houston observed a moment of silence.
"Integrity and Carroll crater, loud and clear. Thank you," said Gibbons.
Lunar observations begin
The crew members now formally begin their lunar observing period, in which they will spend more than six hours analyzing and documenting lunar surface features.
The Orion capsule orbits the Moon before turning around and returning to Earth on a so-called "free-return" trajectory, a round trip that will last approximately four days.
The astronauts received words of encouragement from the late Jim Lovell,who participated in the Apollo 8 and 13 missions and recorded the message shortly before his death.
"It's a historic day, and I know how busy you'll be, but don't forget to enjoy the view," the Artemis astronauts heard from Lovell.
As the crew flies over the far side of the moon, they will be gazing at previously hidden lunar territory: the sphere that rises imposingly through the windows of their capsule.
To enhance the historic character of the mission led by Reid Wiseman, the Artemis II crew includes several firsts.
Victor Glover will be the first person of color to orbit the Moon, Christina Koch will be the first woman and Canadian Jeremy Hansen the first non-American.
During the flyby, there will be a period of about 40 minutes when all communication with Artemis II will be interrupted while the astronauts pass behind the Moon.
"It'll be exciting, you know, in a slightly scary way, when they go behind the Moon," Derek Buzasi, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Chicago, told AFP.
The human eye in front of the camera
An image sent back by the crew showed the Moon's Orientale basin, a huge crater that until then had only been seen by unmanned orbital cameras.
Near the end of their flyby, the astronauts will witness a solar eclipse, when the Sun will be behind the Moon.
Despite technological advances since the Apollo era, NASA still relies on the eyesight of its astronauts to learn more about the Moon.
"The human eye is basically the best camera that could ever or will ever exist," Kelsey Young, the lead scientist for the Artemis II mission, told AFP. "The number of receptors in the human eye far outweighs what a camera is able to do."
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