Among the milestones that the mission will accomplish Artemis II Throughout its ten-day duration is the opportunity to travel further from Earth than anyone has ever done before. Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen broke it today and will reach the new mark tonightbefore beginning to close the distance with our planet as they advance in the flyby of the Moon.
The four astronauts surpassed the mark established on April 15, 1970 by the crew of the Apollo 13when they reached a distance of 400,171 kilometersalso while they were flying over the Moon. Artemis II has overcome that distance at 19.57 today, Spanish time. Now, the furthest point they will reach and which sets the new record, at 01.07 tonight in Spain, it will be 406,778 km.
Jim Lovellcommander of the Apollo 13 mission, left a congratulatory messagerecorded before his death last August, which NASA shared today with the Artemis II crew.
‘Hello, Artemis II. I’m Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell. Welcome to my old neighborhood. When Frank Borman, Bill Anders and I orbit the Moon in the Apollo 8we gave humanity its first close-up view of the Moon and a complete picture of the planet that inspired and united people around the world. I am proud to pass that baton on to you. as you circle the Moon and lay the foundations for missions to Mars for the benefit of all. It’s a historic day and I know how busy you’re going to be, but don’t forget to enjoy the views. So, Reid, Victor, Christina, Jeremy and all the great teams that support you, good luck and safe travels from all of us here on the good Earth‘ says Lovell.
‘It was an incredible message from Jim Lovell. It was very nice to hear you welcome us to the neighborhood. It’s going to be a great day,’ Wiseman, Artemis II commander, told Mission Control.
‘By covering the greatest distance that humans have ever traveled from planet Earthwe do so by honoring the extraordinary efforts and achievements of our predecessors in human space exploration. We will continue our journey even further into space before Mother Earth manages to draw us back to everything we hold dear, but most of all, We choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next to make sure this record doesn’t last long.‘ said Hansen.
Although this was one of the objectives of Artemis II, It was not in the case of Apollo 13, which ended up going further than expected. The mission was designed to orbit the Moon and then land, but one of its oxygen tanks failed during the journey, making it impossible. Mission Control and the three Apollo 13 astronauts, Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert, redesigned the flight in real time and turned it into a lunar flyby that, against all odds, managed to return safely to Earth.
In Artemis II, on the other hand, everything is going smoothly and going this far is intended to demonstrate that Orion can support astronauts in deep space. The flyby also helps Orion gain momentum, relying on lunar gravity, to return to Earth, where it will land next Friday, April 10, early Saturday morning in Spain.
If the Artemis program continues as planned after its recent remodeling, the first lunar landing will occur at the end of 2028with Artemis IV. In 2027, Artemis III It will test technologies and docking maneuvers in low Earth orbit. Then there will be other moon landings that will help to build a base near the lunar south pole in the early 2030s.