Artemis II crew speeds toward Earth after breaking Apollo 13 distance record

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (WINK) — The Artemis II crew reached day seven of their mission and made the big turn back to Earth.

The astronauts are picking up speed. They were traveling about 1,000 miles per hour, and now they are going faster.

Everyone deserves a day off. Today, the Artemis crew gets something close.

It's not a full day off, but a little more downtime to rest and recharge after a busy few days. They had their version of a ship-to-ship call—make that a spaceship-to-spaceship call—as they had the chance to speak with the astronauts on the International Space Station.

The crew will conduct an engine burn to fine-tune the direction back home. Of course, they will be taking photos.

Artemis beat the Apollo 13 record for traveling the farthest from Earth. Now they are on pace to beat the Apollo 10 speed record of 24,791 miles per hour.

Their record speed is expected to be 25,000 miles per hour, but we'll have to wait a few days to see if they get the new record. Friday will be the splashdown.

The mission is going well.