Having just circled the moon in a historic flyby of our nearest neighbor, the Artemis II crew is now on its way back to Earth.
Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch of NASA, along with Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency, launched April 1 aboard the Orion spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center and were carried into space by the powerful SLS rocket.
The mission is expected to last ten days and culminate in a water disaster off the coast of California.
Artemis II is testing Orion’s systems in preparation for a manned lunar landing as part of the Artemis IV mission, currently scheduled for 2028. Artemis III, which could take place next year, will test a crucial docking procedure that will pave the way for Artemis IV’s moon landing.
With the mission going according to plan so far, except for a few issues with the spacecraft’s toilet, and the crew now on the way home, now is a good time to share some of the Artemis II mission records so far.
1 – The furthest man has ever traveled from Earth: On Monday, the Artemis II crew reached a record altitude of 252,756 miles (406,771 km) from Earth before beginning their journey home. The previous distance record was 248,655 miles (400,171 km), set by Apollo 13 in April 1970.
2 – First human outside low-Earth orbit in over 50 years: No one has traveled such a distance since Apollo 17 in 1972.
3 – First manned flight of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft: This is the first time humans have flown on NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, which are key to the success of NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to establish a permanent lunar base on the lunar surface and also enable the first human flight to Mars.
4 – First manned lunar mission of the Artemis program: Artemis I included an uncrewed flight for SLS and Orion, which also visited the Moon before returning to Earth. This means that Artemis II is the first human mission of the Artemis era.
5 – First woman to travel into space: As part of the Artemis II crew, Christina Koch was the first woman to leave low Earth orbit.
6 – First black astronaut to travel into space: Likewise, Victor Glover is the first person of color to reach the lunar distance.
7 – First non-American to travel to the lunar region: A Canadian, Jeremy Hansen is the first non-US astronaut to take part in a lunar mission.
8 – For the first time, a crew of four flew to the moon: All 10 Apollo missions to the moon had three crew members, while Artemis II included four astronauts.
With these exciting achievements, the Artemis program is just getting started and promises many more historic milestones to come.
