NASA’s Artemis II Mission Captures Stunning First Photos of Earth

NASA has released the first images of Earth captured by the crew of the Artemis II mission. These high-resolution photographs were taken as the four astronauts began their 10-day journey around the moon, marking the first time humans have traveled outside of Earth’s orbit since 1972.

The images were captured by mission commander Reid Wiseman using a Personal Computing Device, which is a tablet equipped with a camera. The photographs provide different perspectives of the planet from tens of thousands of miles above the atmosphere, including views of the Earth’s nighttime glow and celestial alignments.

Technical Details of the Imagery

One specific image, titled Hello, World, depicts the Atlantic Ocean framed by a thin atmospheric glow. This photograph was taken as the Earth eclipsed the sun, revealing green auroras at both poles. NASA identified a bright planet visible in the bottom right of this frame as Venus.

Another image was captured with a shorter shutter speed to emphasize the nighttime glow of the planet. This view shows electric lights sprinkled across the globe, while sunlight remains visible along the planet’s edge. A third image captured the terminator, the technical term for the divide between the day and night sides of the Earth.

NASA mission control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston described one of the views as a reminder that no matter how far we go, we are still one world, watching, hoping and reaching higher. Another view from the Orion spacecraft’s windows was characterized as a pale blue dot seen through the crew’s eyes.

Crew Composition and Historical Milestones

The Artemis II mission carries a crew of four: commander Reid Wiseman, mission specialists Christina Koch and Victor Glover, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. The crew is making history by traveling farther from Earth than any previous human mission.

The mission includes several historic firsts for lunar exploration:

• Christina Koch is the first woman to travel to the vicinity of the moon.
• Victor Glover is the first Black man to venture near the moon.
• Jeremy Hansen is the first Canadian to travel to the moon’s vicinity.

During a downlink event on Day 2 of the flight, Christina Koch noted that seeing the entire planet in one pane of the window increased her anticipation for the upcoming views of the moon.

Flight Trajectory and Mission Timeline

The crew launched atop NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in the Orion crew capsule. In the early hours of April 3, 2026, the spacecraft successfully completed a trans-lunar injection burn. This maneuver propelled the Orion capsule out of Earth orbit and onto a trajectory toward the moon, a distance of more than 200,000 miles.

Following the burn, mission specialist Jeremy Hansen informed mission control that the crew were glued to the windows taking photographs. The spacecraft is currently on a looping path that will take the astronauts around the far side of the moon.

The current flight schedule indicates that the crew will pass around the far side of the moon on April 6, 2026, and is expected to return to Earth on April 10, 2026.

Long-term Objectives of the Artemis Campaign

Artemis II is the second mission under NASA’s multibillion-dollar Artemis campaign. The primary objective of this flight is to set the stage for future crewed landings on the lunar surface, which NASA aims to achieve as early as 2028.

Beyond the initial landing, the agency intends to establish a permanent lunar base. This infrastructure is designed to serve as a stepping stone for the first crewed missions bound for Mars.