The Artemis II crew is now just 13,000 miles away from the moon, and about half an hour from surpassing the record for the farthest humans have ever traveled from Earth. That record, 248,655 miles, was set by Apollo 13 in 1970, according to NASA.

Artemis II astronauts are preparing to set a new distance record from Earth on Monday as the crew races to slingshot the Orion capsule around the moon before heading back toward Earth.

NASA granted KPRC 2’s Gage Goulding rare access inside Mission Control at Johnson Space Center as the Artemis II crew travels toward the moon, offering a firsthand look at the team responsible for guiding the historic mission.

"attachment_127487" align="aligncenter" width="413"] Pine Lake Prep grad Bryce Clegg is working in mission control for the Artemis

In high-stakes roles, NASA launch and mission control teams on the ground will keep the Artemis II astronauts safely on track during a 10-day journey around the moon.

The Pasadena lab plays a key role in data exchange and communications between four Artemis II astronauts and mission control. For many, the moon mission is the first time they’ll support a human space flight.

Astronauts are expected to hit a major milestone in the Artemis II mission with a historic flyby of the moon on Monday afternoon.

In the first endeavor to orbit the moon in more than half a century, four astronauts launched on the Artemis II mission from Cape Canaveral. A Monitor journalist watched the historic step toward a lunar mission from the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

NASA’s first manned Moon mission in more than 50 years is underway, after blasting off at 6.35pm EDT yesterday (1 April)