The four astronauts aboard NASA's Artemis II mission flew farther from Earth on Monday than any humans in history, shattering a distance record that had stood for more than half a century as they swept around the far side of the moon on a trajectory that also delivered the first direct human observations of lunar phenomena invisible from our planet.

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, surpassed the previous record of 248,655 miles — set by Apollo 13 in April 1970 — at 1:57 p.m. ET. Their Orion spacecraft, named Integrity, ultimately reached a maximum distance of 252,756 miles from Earth, eclipsing the old mark by more than 4,100 miles.

The milestone came on the sixth day of a 10-day mission that represents the first crewed voyage to the vicinity of the moon since NASA's Apollo 17 returned to Earth in December 1972. A Pacific splashdown near San Diego is expected on Friday.

A Message From the Past

The crew began their day with a recording from the late Jim Lovell, the Apollo astronaut who commanded the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission and flew aboard Apollo 8, humanity's first lunar voyage in 1968. Lovell, who died last August at age 97, had recorded the message just two months before his death.

He welcomed the crew to what he called his "old neighborhood" and reminded them not to forget to enjoy the view. The astronauts also carried aboard an original Apollo 8 silk mission patch that had traveled to the moon with Lovell's crew nearly six decades earlier. Wiseman called it "a real honor to have that on board with us."

Shortly after surpassing the distance record, Hansen delivered brief remarks from the cabin. He honored the legacy of earlier space explorers and issued a challenge, urging "this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long-lived."

Naming Craters and Shedding Tears

Moments after the record fell, the crew proposed provisional names for two previously unnamed lunar craters they had observed. Hansen suggested calling one Integrity, after their spacecraft, and another Carroll, in honor of Wiseman's late wife, who died of cancer in 2020.

Wiseman wept as Hansen made the request to mission control, and all four astronauts embraced. The commander eventually regained his composure and began photographing the lunar surface, radioing that the view was "majestic." The crater names will be formally submitted to the International Astronomical Union after the mission concludes.

The emotional moment underscored a mission that has blended technical rigor with deeply personal significance. Glover, the mission pilot, reflected over the weekend on what it meant to fly toward the moon during Christianity's Holy Week, describing Earth as an oasis surrounded by emptiness and calling it "an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are, and that we are the same thing."

A Seven-Hour Flyby of the Far Side

The centerpiece of Monday's operations was a roughly seven-hour lunar flyby that took the crew across both the near and far sides of the moon, swooping to within 4,067 miles of the surface at closest approach.

Because the moon rotates at the same rate it orbits Earth, its far side permanently faces away from our planet. Only the Apollo astronauts who orbited the moon during their missions have ever seen it directly — and never under the conditions Artemis II provided. The crew observed the far side under varying illumination, documenting features that scientists have studied only through robotic imagery.

One astronaut described the far side as "impossibly rugged," noting that virtually every surface was marked by meteor impacts. Glover remarked that some lunar peaks appeared so bright they looked as though they were covered in snow. The crew used high-powered Nikon cameras and handheld devices to photograph and annotate what they were seeing, working in rotating pairs at Orion's windows. NASA's photography instructor for the mission estimated the crew would take upward of 10,000 images during the flyby.

Among their priority targets was the Orientale Basin, a massive impact structure with concentric rings stretching nearly 600 miles across that straddles the boundary between the near and far sides. The crew also observed the Apollo 12 and 14 landing sites and portions of the lunar south polar region, the intended destination for future Artemis landing missions.

During a 40-minute communications blackout — caused by the moon blocking signals between Orion and NASA's Deep Space Network — the crew continued their observations, reporting upon reemergence that they had spotted at least four impact flashes from meteors striking the darkened surface. Scientists in Houston were described as literally jumping up and down at the news.

What Comes Next

As the crew swung back toward Earth, they witnessed a solar eclipse visible only from their vantage point — the moon passing directly in front of the sun. Glover said the sight "just looks unreal," describing the sun's corona creating a halo around the moon while earthshine illuminated the lunar surface against the blackness of space.

Artemis II is following what is known as a free-return lunar trajectory — the same celestial figure-eight maneuver that Apollo 13 used after its oxygen tank explosion forced the crew to abort their planned landing. The trajectory uses the gravitational pull of both the Earth and moon to sling the spacecraft home without requiring major engine burns.

President Trump spoke with the crew by phone Monday evening, calling them "modern-day pioneers" and congratulating them on behalf of the country. Hansen received a message that both Wayne Gretzky and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney were proud of his participation.

The mission is designed as a crewed dress rehearsal for the broader Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface by 2028 on Artemis IV and eventually establish a permanent moon base as a staging ground for future Mars missions. Artemis III, planned for next year, will see a separate crew practice docking with lunar landers in Earth orbit.

The USS John P. Murtha, an amphibious transport dock, departed San Diego on Monday to serve as the recovery vessel for Friday's planned splashdown approximately 50 miles southwest of the city. NASA retains roughly 475 nautical miles of flexibility along the entry ground track to adjust the landing site based on weather conditions.