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Artemis moon mission breaks record for distance from Earth

They sailed about 5,000 miles further than the Moon, said the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NEW YORK, April 6. /TASS/. The four crew of the Orion capsule, part of the Artemis II mission, has set a new record for human flight distance from Earth, sailing 8,047 km (about 5,000 miles) further than the Moon, said the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Four astronauts - Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch from NASA and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen - moved away from Earth by about 406,608 km (252,64 miles), exceeding the record of the Apollo 13 expedition in 1970 by about 6,437 km (about 4,000 miles). During the six-hour lunar flyby, the crew will be able to observe the far side of the Moon and a total solar eclipse. The Moon will cover the Sun revealing the solar corona. The ship will leave the communication area with the mission control center for 40 minutes.

The SLS launch vehicle with the Orion spacecraft as part of the Artemis II mission lifted off on April 1 at 18:35 local time (10:35 p.m. GMT on April 1) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (Florida). The total duration of the mission is ten days. The last manned mission to the Moon took place in December 1972 as part of the Apollo 17 expedition.

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