On Monday, April 6, the four astronauts of Artemis II will travel farther from Earth than any humans in history—breaking the record set by Apollo 13 in 1970.
They’ll sail around the far side of the Moon, photographing lunar features never before seen by human eyes. At their closest point, they’ll pass roughly 4,000 miles above the lunar surface.
Notable moments:
– The crew has noted that they are seeing brown and green tones up close, perhaps from ancient volcanic activity
– The crew named two craters on the moon: Integrity, named for the shuttle, and Carroll who was commander Reid Wiseman’s late wife.
– A jar of Nutella took a tour of the shuttle cabin.
To commemorate the Artemis II mission, the astronauts announced their suggestion to rename certain features on the Moon to honor the Orion spacecraft, named Integrity, as well as commander Reid Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll. pic.twitter.com/ejfhnItDo8
— NASA (@NASA) April 6, 2026
#NEWS 🚨: Watch as a random jar of Nutella photobombs the Artemis II livestream pic.twitter.com/MpVsHoWmPy
— Latest in space (@latestinspace) April 6, 2026
Approaching the near side of the Moon.
The Artemis II astronauts have surpassed the record for the distance from Earth at 1:56 ET (1756 UTC). This record was previously set during the Apollo 13 mission when the astronauts traveled 248,655 miles from Earth. The Moon continues to… pic.twitter.com/OapAGgGMex
— NASA Artemis (@NASAArtemis) April 6, 2026
You had us at cosmic brownie!✨
The @NASAArtemis II crew has quite a selection to choose from for midday meals.
Tell us your lunar lunch pick! pic.twitter.com/JQIbDqz45W
— NASA (@NASA) April 6, 2026
