Orion Crew Breaks Record, Talks to ISS

0:00It's April 7th. I'm Cory with the story. This is Tampa Bay News today driven by AI. The Artemis II crew just smashed a 54-year-old record, becoming the farthest humans from Earth at over 248,000 miles. Out! Commander Reed Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Jeremy Hanson flew right by the moon's far side on this. Ten-day test run for NASA's new heavy rocket and Orion capsule. Earlier this week, they named two lunar craters, one for their ship, integrity, and another honoring Wiseman's late wife. They hit a comms blackout zipping around the back of the moon and even caught a first of its kind view of a solar eclipse from there. On day 7, the team linked up for a 15-minute audio chat with International Space Station astronauts Jessica Mir, Jack Hathaway, Chris, Williams, and Sophie Adinot from the European Space Agency. It was the first time a deep space crew talked live with station folks, swapping stories despite some delays and overlaps.

1:05They also debrief NASA scientists on the flyby, noting how brutal the sun glare and earth shine were on the windows, way tougher than expected for. Snapping moon picks. Those insights and shots will scout future landing spots. Tonight around 9.03 pm, eastern time, Orion fires its first big thruster burn to curve homeward with two more tweaks ahead. This mission's paving the way for bigger lunar leaves real soon.