NASA has said the Artemis II crew will now make its closest approach to the moon at 7:00 p.m. ET and will reach its furthest distance from Earth at 7:02 p.m. ET.

Previously, the crew was supposed to make its closest approach at 7:02 p.m. ET and reach maximum distance from the Earth at 7:07 p.m. ET.

-ABC News' Briana Alvarado

The Artemis II crew's historic lunar flyby began around 2:45 p.m. ET.

The flyby, which should take around seven hours, will see the Orion spacecraft be close enough to the moon for the crew "to make detailed observations of geologic features on the lunar surface," according to NASA.

NASA said coverage will include live views of the moon taken by cameras that are mounted on Orion's solar arrays.

As the Artemis II astronauts broke the record for the farthest distance traveled by humans from Earth, they received a special message from Mission Control.

The Capsule Communicator, or CAPCOM -- which is the go-between for the astronauts and Mission Control -- recalled the previous record set by the Apollo 13 crew.

"Today, for all humanity, you're pushing beyond that frontier. Integrity, over to you," Mission Control stated.

Canadian Space Agency mission specialist Jeremy Hansen shared a message on behalf of the Artemis II crew, honoring the astronauts that came before them.

"We will continue our journey even further into space before Mother Earth succeeds in pulling us back to everything that we hold dear," Hansen said. "But we, most importantly, choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long lived."

The Artemis II crew has officially set the record for the farthest distance that humans have traveled from Earth, occurring at 1:57 p.m. ET.

The previous record was set in 1970 by the Apollo 13 crew, which traveled 248,655 miles from Earth.

NASA said that, at about 7:07 p.m. ET, the four astronauts will travel a maximum distance of 252,760 miles from Earth.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said Artemis II marked America's "grand return to the moon" during a Wednesday evening news conference.

Isaacman said NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover Jr. and Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, "are safe. They're secure, and they're in great spirits."

"We will continue to monitor their health and status as we move into the next phase of the Artemis II mission," he continued. "You have our commitment to keep the public as informed as possible on this historic mission.

"We will hold our celebration until this crew is under parachutes and splashes down off the West Coast," Isaacman said.

Isaacman said about 51 minutes into the flight, during a planned handover between satellites, there was a temporary loss of communications with the ground team not able to receive data from the crew or spacecraft. However, he said communications have since been restored.