The Artemis II mission surpassed Apollo 13's record on 7 April by travelling more than 400,000 kilometres away from the Earth
Jon Garay
Tuesday, 7 April 2026, 11:53
"We'll see you on the other side," astronaut Victor Glover said at 12.44am Spanish time on 7 April, minutes before the Orion spacecraft lost communication with Earth upon reaching the far side of the Moon.
The silence would last for about 40 minutes, the time it would take the spacecraft to appear on the far side of the satellite. At 1.35am, the crew re-established contact with Houston. "Hello Orion. We're ready to bring you home," Houston said. The return trip will take five days.
Orion has officially reached the farthest point away from Earth in human history: 406,772 kilometres. Minutes before that, it positioned itself about 6,530 kilometres from the Moon, just over the 5,800 kilometres that separate Madrid from New York in a straight line.
"We still feel your love from Earth. We love you from the Moon," Glover said.
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