The US space agency's Orion capsule went where no spacecraft designed to carry astronauts had gone for in the latest demonstration mission around the moon.
Nasa's unmanned vessel had travelled more than 270,000 miles (430,000km) beyond Earth in the landmark moment for the agency's Artemis programme, which is planning complex missions in the near future with the Orion capsule.
The Artemis programme is hoping to see people return to the moon for the first in over 50 years, which could begin as soon as two years' time should the current uncrewed ship return to Earth without incident.
Monday's new distance record for a spacecraft designed to carry humans was the halfway point of the demonstration mission, which included some spectacular video of the moon moving in front of the Earth from the capsule.
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Uncredited/AP/REX/Shutterstock)Mike Sarafin, Nasa's Artemis mission manager, said: "This halfway point teaches us to number our days so that we can get a heart of wisdom.
"The halfway point affords us an opportunity to step back and then look at what our margins are and where we could be a little smarter to buy down risk and understand the spacecraft's performance for crewed flight on the very next mission."
The previous record for the most distance from a spacecraft designed for humans was set by the Apollo-13 mission in April 1970 when it travelled some 400,171km (248,655 miles) away from Earth.
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NASA/AFP via Getty Images)The mission around the moon will pave the way for a crewed flight test and future human lunar exploration.
The Orion lunar spacecraft which is manned with a manikin - a model of the human body used to measure the impacts of the flight on the body - and a Snoopy mascot toy launched from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on November 16.
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NASA/Joel Kowsky/SWNS)The mission is expected to last 26 days, including outbound transit, the journey around the moon and deployment of satellites, followed by a return transit before splashdown in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego on December 11.
The maiden manned Artemis mission is scheduled for late 2024, with an Orion flights for astronauts to land on the moon surface thought to be planned to be as early as 2025.
This is a new space station where astronauts will be able to live and work.
