JAKARTA - Four astronauts on the Artemis II mission have surpassed the Apollo 13 record set in 1970. In the record, the four Apollo crew managed to travel 400,171 kilometers from Earth.
However, in the latest record, Artemis II managed to score a much further distance. They managed to reach a distance of 406,770 kilometers, the farthest record ever traveled by humans from Earth to the Moon.
This achievement officially broke the record of the Apollo 13 mission which has lasted for more than 55 years. This historic record was achieved when the astronauts made a cross-flight to observe the far side of the moon.
"It's amazing what you can see with your naked eye from the moon today," Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen said via radio communication, quoted from NASA's official website on Tuesday, April 7.
Shortly after the record was broken, the Artemis II crew asked permission to name two new lunar craters they had observed. They proposed the names Integrity and Carroll, which came from the names of their capsules and the name of NASA Astronaut Reid Wiseman's late wife, who died of cancer in 2020.
Pilot Victor Glover reported that some peaks on the moon's surface emitted a very bright light. The phenomenon of sunlight reflection makes the moon mountains appear as if they were covered by a blanket of snow.
The astronauts used professional cameras and smart phones to capture rare moments of Earth and the Moon in one frame. This documentation becomes valuable visual data for scientists for future research.
This success was also welcomed by US President Donald Trump. He congratulated the crew via telephone after the transatlantic flight was completed. He called the astronauts pioneers of the modern era who have made the whole nation proud.
"Today you have made history and made all Americans very proud," Trump said. The US president also reminded the crew that there would be more trips to the moon and eventually they would open a "big trip to Mars".
The Orion capsule is scheduled to end its test flight near the Moon this month by landing in the Pacific Ocean on Friday, April 10. The success of this mission will be the main foundation for the plan to land humans at the south pole of the moon.
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