The Artemis II astronauts broke the record Monday for the furthest distance humans have traveled from Earth as they embarked on their historic flyby of the dark side of the moon.
The four astronauts, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, surpassed the previous record of 248,655 miles set by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970.
“As we surpass the furthest distance humans have ever traveled from Planet Earth, we do so in honoring the extraordinary efforts and feats of our predecessors in human space exploration,” Hansen said.
Hansen also used the moment to challenge "this generation, and the next, to make sure this record is not long lived."
The crew then started their six-hour journey around the dark side of the moon, something no human eye has seen before. The flyby is an important step in the 10-day mission that marks the first crewed flight of NASA's Artemis program. The program aims to, once again, land boots on the moon's surface by 2028.