India, April 7 -- In a landmark moment, four astronauts on NASA's Artemis II mission have set a new record for the farthest distance travelled by humans, surpassing a benchmark that stood for over five decades.

At 12:56 p.m. CDT on Monday, the crew crossed 248,655 miles from Earth, overtaking the record set during the Apollo 13 mission in 1970, according to a press release issued by NASA.

The spacecraft is expected to reach a maximum distance of about 252,756 miles before turning back towards Earth, setting a new high for human spaceflight.

The mission, NASA's first crewed flight under the Artemis program, is now six days into its journey. On board are NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian ...