The Artemis II crew captured a striking “Earthset” photograph — the moment Earth slips below the Moon’s horizon — echoing the famous Earthrise image taken by an Apollo 8 astronaut in 1968.
The four-person crew is preparing to return to Earth’s gravity after breaking the record for the farthest distance traveled from Earth by humans on Monday. Artemis II reached 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometers) from Earth, surpassing the 1970 Apollo 13 record by more than 4,000 miles. They are scheduled to splash down in the Pacific off the California coast on Friday.
On Tuesday the astronauts also witnessed a total solar eclipse from lunar orbit, wearing protective glasses as the Moon briefly blocked the Sun. The mission team sent back several photos of the Moon and a crescent Earth setting along the lunar limb.
The crew comprises US astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Victor Glover, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Glover is the first Black person to fly around the Moon, Koch is the first woman, and Hansen is the first non-American on such a lunar flyby. Their historic loop around Earth’s natural satellite is part of a larger program preparing for a potential Moon landing in 2026.
“Humans probably have not evolved to see what we’re seeing,” said Victor Glover. “It is truly hard to describe. It is amazing.”