Speaking at a news conference in Houston, NASA officials said the Orion spacecraft is expected to pass the Apollo 13 distance record of 248,655 miles from Earth on Monday, before traveling even farther into deep space. NASA said Orion will reach its farthest point from Earth at around 7:07 p.m. Eastern time (0007 GMT on April 7), at a distance of 252,760 miles, more than 4,000 miles beyond the Apollo 13 record. As the spacecraft conducts its lunar flyby, the crew will observe the Moon under specific lighting conditions that will allow them to view both the near side and about 21% of the far side at closest approach, officials said. During the flyby, astronauts will follow a detailed imaging plan tied to the mission’s lunar science objectives, photographing and describing targets selected by NASA scientists. Artemis II is NASA’s first crewed mission around the Moon since the Apollo