Artemis II Astronauts Receive their Official FAI World Record Certificates in Houston
The four Artemis II mission astronauts – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen and Christina Koch – each received official FAI World Record certificates for their achievements on 30 September 2026 at a public event in Houston, USA.
The framed certificates describe the FAI Astronautic World Records attained by the crew during the mission in April 2026 to the far side of the Moon, in which they voyaged further into space than humans have ever previously traveled:
- FAI Astronautic Record for Altitude above the Earth while in Earth orbit: On 2 April 2026, the Artemis II crew reached 70 149 km (43 588 miles) above Earth’s surface, surpassing the previous 1966 record of 1 369 km set by Gemini 11 and the female record of 1 408 km set in September 2024 by the Polaris Dawn mission crew, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon.
- FAI Astronautic Record for Distance to Earth: On 6 April 2026, the Artemis II crew reached a distance of 406 767 km (252 753 miles) from Earth. This distance surpassed the previous official FAI Astronautic Record of 377 668.9 km set by Apollo 8 in 1968 and the 1970 Apollo 13 mission of 400 171 km, in which the damaged spacecraft was brought safely back to Earth under emergency circumstances.
- FAI Astronautic Records – Female category: Christina Koch, the female Artemis II crew member, holds two records in her name: Distance to Earth and Altitude above Earth while in Earth orbit.
The record certificates were presented by FAI President Greg Principato, with Amy Spowart, President and CEO of the FAI Member for the USA, the National Aeronautic Association (whose Contest and Records Board worked closely with NASA to ratify the record) and the Aero Club of Canada, represented by Vice President David Donaldson and Mary Anne Stevens, former President.
The event, held at the University of Houston’s Fertitta Center, celebrated the crew’s achievements with a Q&A in which the four astronauts answered public questions about their voyage around the Moon.
