# At their nearest distance to the Moon, the Artemis II’s Orion capsule came within an estimated 6,.

*aerospace · news · 2026-04-07 · The Straits Times*

## Key points

- Artemis II's Orion capsule came within 6,545km of the lunar surface, the closest in 50 years.
- The crew broke Apollo 13's distance record, reaching 406,771km from Earth.
- Victor Glover is the first Black astronaut and Christina Koch the first woman to travel to the moon.
- The crew observed a solar eclipse from Orion, enabling unique imaging of the Sun's corona.
- NASA aims to use crew observations to study 60% of the moon's far side never seen by humans.

**Companies:** Lockheed Martin
**Countries:** United States, Canada

[Read the full story on The Straits Times](https://www.straitstimes.com/world/nasas-record-breaking-crew-earth-bound-after-trip-around-moon)

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