Nasa's Artemis II mission sets distance record

The NASA Artemis II mission has achieved a historic milestone by reaching a distance of 400,171 kilometers from Earth, surpassing the human spaceflight record previously held by Apollo 13 in 1970. The four-member crew includes commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. This mission represents the first crewed flight to the Moon in decades, performing a lunar flyby without landing. During the flight, the crew experienced 40 minutes of communication blackout while passing behind the Moon. The spacecraft is scheduled to splash down off the coast of San Diego on Friday, April 10. Future NASA objectives include a 2027 mission to test systems closer to the lunar surface, followed by a goal to land astronauts on the lunar South Pole by 2028. These efforts aim to facilitate future permanent research bases and lunar resource exploration.