The four astronauts of NASA's Artemis II mission have reached the farthest point from Earth ever touched by humans, setting a new historic record in space exploration.
The crew, consisting of American astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, has been traveling since last week aboard the Orion capsule, launched from Florida.
According to Reuters, they are expected to reach a maximum distance of about 252,760 miles from Earth, surpassing the 56-year-old record set by the Apollo 13 mission by approximately 6,600 kilometers.
During this phase, the astronauts will pass over the dark side of the Moon, observing it from about 4,000 miles above, while Earth will appear in the background as a small object.
This moment marks the climax of the nearly 10-day Artemis II mission, which is the first crewed test flight under the Artemis program. This program aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface by 2028 and establish an American base there as a step toward future missions to Mars.
The flight around the Moon will last about six hours and will be accompanied by temporary communication interruptions, as the natural satellite will block the connection with NASA's deep space communication network.
During this time, the astronauts will capture detailed photographs of the Moon through Orion's windows, obtaining rare scientific views, including the moment when Earth appears and disappears over the lunar horizon.
At the Johnson Space Center in Houston, dozens of scientists are monitoring the mission in real time, analyzing the descriptions and data sent by the crew from space.