Artemis Two Breaks Distance Record, Paves Way for Moon Exploration

0:00It's April 6, I'm Cory with the story, and this is Durham News Today, local news powered by AI. Artemis, too, just smashed the record for the farthest humans have ever been from Earth, topping Apollo 13's mark of 248, 655 miles by more than 4,100 miles. This all went down during their 6-hour lunar flyby. The big highlight of NASA's first crude moon mission since Apollo 17 back in 19. 72. Three Americans in one Canadian are looping around the far side for views no one's caught with the naked eye before. They're riding a free return trajectory, same smart path Apollo 13 used after that oxygen-tang blew. Gravity from Earth and the moon does the heavy lifting, saving fuel on this figure-8 ride. The Orion capsule zipped within 4,070 miles of the lunar surface before whipping around for the four-day trip home, with a Pacific. Splashdown set for Friday. The crew prepped hard, studying moon maps to pick out gems like the massive Orientalia Basin,

1:04spanning nearly 600 miles across, plus Apollo. 12 and 14 landing spots from 1969 and 71. They even timed it for a solar eclipse view from behind the moon. NASA Geologist Kelsey Young says, folks worldwide connect with the moon its universal. Pilot Victor Glover called it a reminder of creation's beauty amid the universe's vast nothing, especially flying during Holy Week. He linked hands with the team, stressing we're all one and got to stick together. As Orion curves back our way, Artemis II paves the road for South Pole landings in just a couple years, firing up the next era of moon exploration.