The Artemis 2 crew captured a spellbinding photo of the crescent Earth shining above the moon’s horizon on Flight Day 6 of their mission, shortly before our planet was lost behind the lunar horizon.
What is it?
White clouds can be seen swirling on Earth‘s sunlit arc above the line separating night from day while the cratered expanse of the lunar disk stretches out below. The 590-mile-wide (950-kilometer-wide) Orientale basin can be seen darkening the upper right of the lunar crescent, while prominent features such as the Chebyshev, Vavilov and Hertzsprung impact sites dominate the shadowed lunar far side in the lower half of the image.
The photo was captured on Monday (April 6), as Artemis 2’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen executed their successful flyby of the lunar far side. The mission marked the first time astronauts had visited lunar space since Apollo 17 departed in 1972. Artemis 2 also set a new record for the most distant crewed mission in the history of spaceflight, surpassing the previous record set by the crew of Apollo 13 in April 1970.
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Why is it incredible?
Every human being that has ever lived is contained within the scope of this single image, with the exception of the four crewmembers of the Artemis 2 Orion capsule “Integrity”.
Prior to Artemis 2, only 24 people — the astronauts of Apollo 8 through Apollo 17 — have had the privilege of seeing the far side of the moon with their own eyes. That number has now risen to 28, with NASA’s Christina Koch making history by becoming the first woman to join the ranks, while Victor Glover became the first Black man to perform the feat.
Artemis 2’s Orion spacecraft is now racing towards Earth on a return journey that will see the four-person crew splash down off the coast of San Diego at 8:07 p.m. EDT on April 10 (0007 GMT on April 11), and you can watch it unfold live right here at Space.com.
Be sure to stay up to date with all the latest news with our Artemis 2 liveblog and discover the answers to all your Artemis program questions with our in-depth explainer article!