Artemis II Commander Wiseman Recalls the Record Farthest Moment as Crew Members Move to New Roles
With NASA's Artemis II lunar flyby complete, its four astronauts are moving into new chapters. Commander Reid Wiseman recently recalled the mission's tensest moment at the Starmus Festival in Tenerife, Spain: passing over the far side of the Moon, he watched the distance readout climb past the maximum of 219,667 nautical miles that mission control in Houston had given the crew, ticking to 219,668 and then 219,669 nautical miles. "That was the moment that I felt real fear because I thought we had just gone too far," Wiseman said. The number then began to drop, and the crew ultimately reached 219,669 nautical miles, or 252,756 miles, from Earth, a new record for the farthest distance traveled by humans, surpassing the mark set by Apollo 13 in 1970.
Mission specialist Jeremy Hansen said the crew had discussed the possibility of not returning two days before launch and reached an acceptance of the risks rather than relying on bravado. Hansen flies for the Canadian Space Agency. According to Fox Weather, the agency says he will pursue new professional opportunities while continuing to serve as a reservist in the Royal Canadian Air Force and as an ambassador for Canada's space program. The Artemis II astronauts have finished their flying assignments and are stepping away from active spaceflight.
The Artemis III crew has been announced: NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik, Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio, with European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano. Scheduled for 2027, Artemis III will not land on the Moon; it will test rendezvous and docking in Earth orbit between Orion and the commercial lunar landers being developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin. Under NASA's current plan, Artemis IV is the mission intended to return astronauts to the lunar surface in 2028.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：2026年4月6日，透过 Orion 飞船舷窗拍摄的「地出」，摄于 Artemis II 任务。NASA Johnson Space Center 照片，公共领域。/ Photo: Earthrise seen through an Orion spacecraft window during Artemis II on April 6, 2026. NASA Johnson Space Center, public domain.
