NASA's Artemis 2 will fly 4 astronauts farthest from Earth
NASA's Artemis 2 is about to make history: on April 6, 2026, four astronauts will travel farther from Earth than anyone before, reaching 406,700km away and marking the first human lunar orbit in 54 years.
Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Jeremy Hansen are on board for this 10-day adventure.
Crew photographing craters and running avatar
The crew will swing past the Moon at a record distance from Earth of 406,700km to photograph craters and lava flows, helping scientists learn more about our lunar neighbor.
They'll also test radiation sensors and run health experiments like AVATAR (which studies the immune system's response to deep space using bone-marrow cells from the crew), all while handling real-life challenges like losing contact when Orion passes behind the Moon.
This mission isn't just about records: it's paving the way for future deep space exploration.