United States President, Donald Trump, on April 6, 2026, spoke with the crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission in a 12-minute phone call, praising the four astronauts as “modern-day pioneers” and “brave people” during their historic flight around the far side of the moon.
The crew aboard NASA’s Artemis II has officially broken the record of the furthest any human has ventured into space. The crew has traveled more than 250,000 miles from Earth, venturing to the far side of the moon.
The previous record was long held by Apollo 13 in 1970, which was 248,655 miles away from Earth.
Artemis II officially broke the record at approximately 1:56 p.m. EST on Monday.
The four astronauts — three Americans and one Canadian — traveled farther from Earth than any human beings in history earlier Monday, reaching a maximum distance from Earth of 252,756 miles, passing the Apollo 13 distance record set in 1970 by over 4,000 miles. They also became the first humans to see parts of the far side of the moon with the naked eye.
The president quizzed the four astronauts on the most unforgettable parts of their journey around the far side of the moon.
The mission’s commander, Reid Wiseman, remarked on the opportunity to lay eyes on “sights that no human has ever seen before.” But he said the day’s biggest surprise came when they watched a solar eclipse and spotted Mars in the distance.
“All of us commented how excited we are to watch this nation and this planet become a two-planet species,” he said.
(Photo: AFP)