Artemis II astronauts are more than halfway to the moon as they seek to break Apollo 13’s record
Now more than halfway to the Moon, the Artemis II astronauts were toasted by Canada on Saturday as they prepared for their historic lunar flyby to go deeper into space than even the Apollo astronauts.
The three Americans and a Canadian will reach their destination on Monday, photographing the mysterious dark side of the Moon while zooming. This is the first crew to go to the Moon in more than 53 years, picking up where NASA’s Apollo program left off.
Artemis II was poised to set a distance record for humans, traveling more than 252,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) from Earth before turning around behind the moon and returning home without stopping or entering lunar orbit. The record is currently held by Apollo 13.
The Canadian Space Agency celebrated the country’s role in the mission, speaking from Quebec to astronaut Jeremy Hansen as he headed toward his lunar rendezvous. Hansen is the first non-American citizen to travel to the Moon.
“Today, he is writing Canadian history,” said Canadian Space Agency President Lisa Campbell. “As we watch him take this bold step into the unknown, may his journey remind us that Canada’s future is written by those who dare to reach for more. »
During the live television broadcast, Hansen said he had already witnessed “extraordinary” views from NASA’s Orion capsule.
Hansen, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch are the world’s first lunar astronauts since the three-person crew of Apollo 17 in 1972. Koch and Glover are the first women and first black astronauts, respectively, to travel to the Moon.
Their nearly 10-day mission – which will end with a splashdown in the Pacific on April 10 – is the first step in NASA’s bold plans for a sustainable lunar base. The space agency is aiming for two astronauts to land near the lunar south pole in 2028.
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