Around ten days after its launch, the "Orion" capsule of NASA's "Artemis 1" moon mission set a distance record. It is more than 249,000 miles – the equivalent of over 400,000 kilometers – away from Earth, the US space agency said on Twitter. Shortly before the record, "Orion" swung into the orbit of the moon.
Previous record was held by "Apollo 13"
That is the longest distance ever for a human-made spacecraft. According to a previously distributed press release, the previous record was set more than 50 years ago by the "Apollo 13" mission with 248,655 miles.
Unmanned Mission
There are no people on board the "Orion" capsule, astronauts are only to fly with the "Artemis 2" mission planned for 2024. With the "Artemis" program, named after the Greek goddess of the moon, US astronauts are expected to land on the moon again in the coming years, including a woman and a non-white person for the first time.
After months of postponement, the "Artemis 1" mission set off on a first test launch on November 16. The capsule is expected to return to earth on December 11 after a flight of around two million kilometers.
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