There’s a pretty incredible moment happening in space right now, the Artemis II mission is completing a historic flyby of the Moon. And it’s not just another trip, it’s actually setting a new record.
The crew, which includes Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, is travelling farther from Earth than any humans ever have before, surpassing the distance reached during Apollo 13 back in 1970. At its peak, their spacecraft will go more than 406,000 kilometres from Earth.
As they pass behind the Moon, the crew will temporarily lose communication with Earth for about 40 minutes, a reminder of just how far out they really are. When they come back into view, they’ll get a close flyby of the lunar surface, about 6,500 kilometres away, capturing detailed images of craters, lava flows, and parts of the Moon that were difficult to see during earlier missions.
It’s all part of a larger effort to prepare for future human missions to the Moon, and eventually beyond. But even on its own, this moment is a powerful reminder of how far space exploration has come… and how much farther it’s still going.
