
NASA has shared the first breathtaking views of Earth taken from the Artemis II mission as the crew continues its journey toward the moon.
The photos reveal Earth behind the Orion spacecraft, our home planet aglow with aurora.
One photo of Earth, taken Thursday by Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman from the Orion window, shows the planet backlit, with auroras visible at the top right and bottom left, Lakiesha Hawkins, deputy director for NASA’s Artemis program, said Friday during a news conference.
A zodiacal light is also visible at the bottom right as the Earth eclipses the sun, she said.
Another photo of Earth, also taken by Wiseman, shows a terminator line, meaning the line separating daylight and nighttime on the planet.
“What an amazing shot that he shared with us here,” she said.
The photos were taken after completing the translunar injection burn Thursday.
Hawkins said Friday, the third day of the Artemis II mission, that so far systems are normal and “the crew is in great spirit.”
The four crew members — NASA astronauts Wiseman, Christina Koch and Victor Glover and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen — launched Wednesday on the 10-day mission.
As of Friday, the crew is more than 100,000 miles from Earth, with about 150,000 miles to go to the moon.
The mission does not include a lunar landing, but is designed as a step toward a landing in 2028.
The next major milestone for the space pioneers will be Monday, when the crew is expected to fly around the moon.
That flyby could mark the farthest venture from Earth made by humans, surpassing the distance record of 248,655 miles set by the Apollo 13 astronauts in 1970.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
latest_posts
- 1
New movies to watch this weekend: See 'The Running Man' in theaters, rent 'One Battle After Another,' stream 'Nobody 2' on Peacock - 2
Genesis Marks 10th Anniversary With Magma GT Concept Aimed at High-Performance Flagships - 3
The year's first meteor shower and supermoon clash in January skies - 4
Germany paves the way for tighter EU asylum rules - 5
NASA Artemis II tracker: Crew less than 60,000 miles from moon ahead of Monday flyby
RFK Jr. says he's following 'gold standard' science. Here's what to know
Vote in favor of Your #1 4\u00d74 SUVs
NASA says Maven spacecraft that was orbiting Mars has gone silent
NASA's Voyager 1 set to achieve historic distance from Earth
Where You Could Sleep With Snorlax in Japan, From MIMARU’s Pokémon Rooms to Grand Hyatt Tokyo’s Limited Pokémon Suite
Takeda's AI-crafted psoriasis pill succeeds in late-stage studies
Careful Living: Embracing the Current Second
Go With The Breeze: Grand Paragliding Spots On the planet
January full moon wows skywatchers with a striking 'Wolf Supermoon' (photos)













