CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The Artemis II astronauts have successfully captured stunning images of Earth during their journey to the Moon. NASA shared the crew’s first images just 1.5 days into the mission, highlighting the beauty of our planet from space. Commander Reid Wiseman's first photograph shows Earth’s curvature through one of Orion’s windows, while another image reveals the entire planet adorned with swirling white clouds above its blue oceans.
As they continued their journey, Wiseman and his crew were approximately 90,000 miles (145,000 kilometers) from Earth, with 168,000 miles (270,000 kilometers) left to travel before reaching the Moon. They are set to arrive by Monday, where they will execute a flyby maneuver around the Moon before heading back to Earth.
This mission marks the first crewed lunar expedition since Apollo 17 in 1972 and symbolizes the next step in NASA's Artemis program, designed to explore the Moon and eventually prepare for human missions to Mars. The team's swift progress and their eye-opening photographs not only offer a glimpse of planetary beauty but also reaffirm humanity's ambition to further explore outer space.
As they continued their journey, Wiseman and his crew were approximately 90,000 miles (145,000 kilometers) from Earth, with 168,000 miles (270,000 kilometers) left to travel before reaching the Moon. They are set to arrive by Monday, where they will execute a flyby maneuver around the Moon before heading back to Earth.
This mission marks the first crewed lunar expedition since Apollo 17 in 1972 and symbolizes the next step in NASA's Artemis program, designed to explore the Moon and eventually prepare for human missions to Mars. The team's swift progress and their eye-opening photographs not only offer a glimpse of planetary beauty but also reaffirm humanity's ambition to further explore outer space.
