NASA said Artemis II passed Apollo 13’s 248,655-mile distance-from-Earth record on 6 April 2026, with Christina Koch aboard Orion as the crew moved out on its lunar flyby. The mark stood for more than 55 years after Apollo 13’s emergency return in April 1970.
NASA said the crew crossed the old record at 12:56 p.m. CDT, with Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen aboard the spacecraft. The mission later extended the distance to 252,756 miles, about 4,100 miles beyond the Apollo 13 figure.
Orion crosses the old mark
Artemis II launched on 1 April 2026 on NASA’s Space Launch System and was already outbound for its lunar flyby when it overtook the Apollo 13 distance. NASA’s post-flyby update said the record was set at 1:56 p.m. EDT and extended later that evening.
During a planned 40-minute loss of signal, Orion flew about 4,067 miles above the lunar surface. Two minutes after closest approach, it reached its maximum distance from Earth of 252,756 miles.
Apollo 13’s survival route
Apollo 13 reached 248,655 miles from Earth in April 1970 after an oxygen tank explosion forced the crew to abandon a planned landing at Fra Mauro. James Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise were aboard. NASA said, "It set out to land on the Moon."
NASA also said, "The farthest humans had ever travelled from Earth used to be a record born out of failure." Apollo 13’s distance came from the emergency return path, not the original flight plan, and NASA described it this way: "It was a by-product of survival."
Christina Koch aboard Orion
Christina Koch was one of the four crew members on Orion when Artemis II crossed the old record. For the mission, that meant the crew was not just tracing a historical line in space; it was extending it during a planned test flight around the Moon and back to Earth.
The comparison now stands in the numbers: 248,655 miles for Apollo 13 and 252,756 miles for Artemis II. The record has moved, and the rest of the mission will measure how the crew and spacecraft handle the return leg after the distance mark has already been rewritten.
