NASA has unveiled the first high-resolution photographs of Earth taken by the Artemis II crew as they reached the midpoint of their journey to the Moon. Mission commander Reid Wiseman snapped these breathtaking images shortly after the crew completed a final engine burn, which placed their Orion spacecraft on a trajectory toward the Moon.
At this stage, NASA’s online dashboard indicated the spacecraft was approximately 142,000 miles from Earth and 132,000 miles from the Moon. Astronaut Christina Koch described a shared moment of excitement among the crew upon hitting this significant milestone, roughly two days after their launch.
The initial image, named “Hello, World,” features the expansive blue Atlantic Ocean bordered by a glowing atmosphere, green auroras, and Earth partially eclipsing the Sun. The planet appears inverted, with the western Sahara Desert visible on the left and South America on the right, while Venus shines brightly in the lower right corner.
These photos were taken following a successful trans-lunar injection burn that propelled Orion out of Earth’s orbit. Artemis II is now on a looping trajectory designed to carry the four astronauts around the Moon’s far side. This mission represents the first time humans have ventured beyond Earth’s orbit since 1972.
The crew is scheduled to pass by the Moon on April 6 and return to Earth on April 10, concluding with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Mission specialist Jeremy Hansen reported to mission control that the astronauts were mesmerized by the views from their windows, capturing images of Earth’s dark side.
Additional photographs reveal the planet split between night and day, with city lights sparkling in near-total darkness. NASA also released a side-by-side comparison of these images with a similar one taken by the Apollo 17 crew in 1972. Notably, the agency highlighted the progress made over the past 54 years while emphasizing that Earth’s beauty from space remains unchanged.
