The crew Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen launched from Florida last week aboard the Orion spacecraft and traveled beyond the Moon’s far side, becoming the farthest-flying humans in history.

The mission is part of NASA’s broader Artemis program, a multibillion-dollar effort to return humans to the lunar surface by 2028 and establish a sustained presence that could support future missions to Mars.

During a six-hour lunar flyby, the astronauts conducted real-time observations and communicated continuously with scientists on Earth, providing rare human insights into lunar conditions.

Researchers gathered at NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston analyzed live and recorded data, engaging in direct exchanges with the crew across a distance of more than 400,000 km.

Scientists view the mission as a key step in advancing understanding of the solar system’s formation, with the Moon offering what mission specialists describe as a “witness plate” of early planetary history.

The data collected during the flyby is also expected to inform potential landing sites for future robotic missions, which NASA plans to begin deploying in the coming years as part of its long-term lunar exploration strategy.

Astronauts aboard NASA’s Orion capsule conducted direct observations of the Moon’s shadowed hemisphere, witnessing meteor “impact flashes” striking the cratered surface.

The flyby brought the spacecraft within 4,070 miles of the lunar surface roughly six days after launch.Scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center monitored the event in real time, recording data relayed by the crew as they passed around the Moon at a distance of about a quarter million miles from Earth.

The milestone marks the first time astronauts have traveled to the vicinity of the Moon since the Apollo program ended more than five decades ago. The previous record of roughly 248,000 miles was set in 1970 during the Apollo 13 mission, which was forced to abort its landing due to a critical malfunction.

The Artemis II crew Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen also photographed Earth rising and setting against the lunar horizon, a rare visual phenomenon observed only by astronauts traveling beyond the Moon’s near side.

During the flyby, communications with Earth were cut for about 40 minutes as the Moon blocked signals between the spacecraft and NASA’s Deep Space Network. The blackout period is a known feature of missions traversing the far side of the Moon.

The astronauts also identified and proposed informal names for previously unnamed lunar features, including one crater suggested as “Integrity,” after their spacecraft, and another in memory of Wiseman’s late wife.

The mission forms part of NASA’s broader Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the Moon by 2028 and establish a sustained presence, including infrastructure to support future missions to Mars.

US President Donald Trump congratulated the crew during a live communication following the flyby, calling the achievement historic and globally inspiring.

The milestone was reached roughly two days, five hours and 24 minutes after launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, according to NASA, with onboard crew reporting visible views of the Moon and newly released images capturing Earth from deep space.

“We can see the Moon out of the docking hatch right now, it is a beautiful sight,” astronaut Christina Koch said during a live broadcast late Friday, describing the moment the crew was informed they had passed the midpoint.

NASA’s tracking data showed the Orion spacecraft continuing on its trajectory as astronauts conducted system checks and onboard tests following an intense launch sequence and critical engine burn that set the spacecraft on course toward lunar orbit.

Crew member Jeremy Hansen described the experience as “extraordinary” during a media interaction, noting this was his first journey into space. “The views are extraordinary,” he said, adding that floating in zero gravity felt “like a little kid.

”The four-member crew also includes Victor Glover and mission commander Reid Wiseman, who has been credited by NASA officials for capturing detailed images of Earth showing oceans and cloud formations.

NASA said all systems aboard Orion were functioning normally, with astronauts in “great spirits” and maintaining contact with family members while continuing mission tasks, including medical checks and preparation for scientific observations during the closest approach to the Moon.

The next key phase is expected late Sunday into Monday, when the spacecraft enters the Moon’s gravitational sphere of influence, marking a transition where lunar gravity becomes the dominant force acting on Orion.

If successful, the mission could see the crew travel farther from Earth than any humans in history as the spacecraft loops around the Moon, an achievement not completed in more than five decades.

“There is nothing normal about this,” Wiseman said earlier, describing the mission as a significant technical and human undertaking.

The Artemis II mission forms part of NASA’s broader program to return humans to the Moon and establish a sustained presence, with future plans aimed at building a permanent lunar base to support deeper space exploration.