NASA Artemis II | Artemis II Breaks Apollo 13’s Distance Record With Daring Moon Flyby

Emerging from behind the moon, the Artemis II astronauts pointed their capsule toward home Monday night after beholding views of the lunar far side never before witnessed and setting a new distance record for humanity. The seven-hour flyby was the highlight of NASA’s first return to the moon since the Apollo era with three Americans and one Canadian — a step toward landing boot prints near the moon’s south pole in just two years. First came a prize — and bragging rights — for Artemis II. Artemis II surpassed Apollo 13’s distance record of 248,655 miles (400,171 kilometers) set in April 1970, right before the fly-around and intense lunar observations got started. It ended up beating it.