'Welcome home, Artemis': Crew celebrates historic 10-day moon mission

As the Artemis II astronauts broke the record for the farthest distance traveled by humans from Earth, they received a special message from Mission Control.

The Capsule Communicator, or CAPCOM -- which is the go-between for the astronauts and Mission Control -- recalled the previous record set by the Apollo 13 crew.

"Today, for all humanity, you're pushing beyond that frontier. Integrity, over to you," Mission Control stated.

Canadian Space Agency mission specialist Jeremy Hansen shared a message on behalf of the Artemis II crew, honoring the astronauts that came before them.

"We will continue our journey even further into space before Mother Earth succeeds in pulling us back to everything that we hold dear," Hansen said. "But we, most importantly, choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long lived."

The Artemis II crew has officially set the record for the farthest distance that humans have traveled from Earth, occurring at 1:57 p.m. ET.

The previous record was set in 1970 by the Apollo 13 crew, which traveled 248,655 miles from Earth.

NASA said that, at about 7:07 p.m. ET, the four astronauts will travel a maximum distance of 252,760 miles from Earth.

The Artemis II mission astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft, which is scheduled to do a lunar flyby today, will be well-fed and hydrated with a specially crafted menu for space.

The menu, which was designed according to operational constraints and to fit each phase of the mission, was selected with input from the four-person crew, which NASA says had a chance to "sample, evaluate, and rate all foods on the standard menu during preflight testing."

Those preferences "are balanced with nutritional requirements and what Orion can accommodate," according to NASA.

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The Artemis II mission crew awoke Monday to a message from former astronaut Jim Lovell. Though perhaps best known as the commander of Apollo 13, Lovell also was the command module pilot of Apollo 8, which in December 1968 became the first crewed spaceflight to reach and orbit the moon.

"Welcome to my old neighborhood," Lovell begins the message. "When Frank Borman and Bill Anders and I orbited the moon on Apollo 8, we got humanity's first up-close look of the moon and got a view of the home planet that inspired and united people around the world."

"I'm proud to pass that torch on to you as you swing around the moon and lay the groundwork" for future missions, Lovell said.

"It's a historic day, and how busy you'll be. But don't forget to enjoy the view," the message concludes. "Good luck and Godspeed from all of us here on the good Earth."

Apollo 8, which launched Dec. 21, 1968, famously took the historic photograph of the first Earthrise over the lunar surface as seen by humans.

Lovell recorded his message to the Artemis II crew shortly before his death on Aug. 7, 2025, at age 97.