Artemis II Captures Earth’s Blue Beauty as Moon Mission Heads Out
Artemis II Captures Earth’s Blue Beauty as Moon Mission Heads Out
Artemis II astronauts share stunning Earth photos as they arc toward the Moon, the first crewed lunar voyage since 1972.
Artemis II’s four-person crew — three Americans and one Canadian — is on a lunar loop after Orion’s main engine fired to set the trajectory toward the Moon. The milestone mission, the first crewed lunar voyage since Apollo 17 in 1972, marks a significant step in NASA’s plan to return humans to the Moon and push toward future deep-space exploration.
NASA released the crew’s first downlinked images on Friday, showing Earth from a new perspective as they head deeper into space. One photo captures a curved slice of the planet through a capsule window, while another offers a full view of the globe dotted with white clouds over vast blue oceans. The images underscore the fragile beauty of our home planet as the astronauts continue their journey toward the Moon.
As of midmorning Friday, the four astronauts were about 90,000 miles (145,000 kilometers) from Earth, with roughly 168,000 miles (270,000 kilometers) to go before reaching the Moon. They are slated to swing around the Moon, then head straight back home without stopping, with an expected return on Monday, April 6, 2026.
The mission’s imagery and trajectory are being watched closely as Artemis II aims to validate the systems, crew performance, and mission profile ahead of future longer-duration missions. The view from Orion’s window and the record of the journey so far offer a human-scale glimpse of a historic voyage that connects today’s engineering with the Apollo era.
