Science · Artemis II recordArtemis II Crew Honored for Record-Breaking FlightAired August 29, 2026 at 6:24 PM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00Four astronauts hold the record for the farthest humans have ever traveled from0:04Earth.0:04That record, set in April, was honored this week with the Congressional Space Medal0:08of Honor, the country's highest civilian space award given to a crew that broke a0:1256-year-old mark, but the record they broke was born of an emergency, not a plan.0:17So, how did a deliberate lunar flyby surpass the distance Apollo 13 reached by0:21accident?0:22The margin is exactly 4,101 miles, more than 6,600 kilometers, and0:28it's the sum of a deliberate lunar flyby versus a life-saving detour.0:32Apollo 13 reached its record in a damaged, power-starved spacecraft after an oxygen0:37tank exploded 56 hours into the flight.0:40Artemis II flew the same lunar route on purpose, the crew healthy and in control the0:44whole way.0:45Launch on April 1st, record distance on the 6th, splashdown on the 10th, and the0:51medal ceremony this week, closing out a nine-day flight and a 53-year wait for a0:56lunar crew.0:56The record happened on the far side of the moon during a planned communications1:00blackout.1:01So, the crew passed the mark with no one on the ground able to confirm it live.1:04The crew, Commander Reed Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists1:08Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen.1:11Hansen is the first Canadian and first non-U.S.1:13citizen on a lunar mission.1:15Trump presented the medals on the recommendation of NASA Administrator Jared1:18Isaacman.1:19The citation says approximately 252,760 miles.1:25The post-flight record is 252,756.1:29The rounder number is the pre-flight estimate carried into the ceremony.1:33The flight log is the one NASA settled on.1:35The medal goes back to 1969, with Neil Armstrong among the first recipients in 1978.1:41It hadn't gone to a living crew in more than three years, and now the count stands1:45at 34.1:46Trump also signed an executive order creating the U.S.1:49Space Academy, with a commission to design it.1:52He referenced a proposed nuclear-powered Mars spacecraft and the upcoming Roman1:56Space Telescope launch.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗