
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
Astronomers now say the moon is eating up molecules from Earth’s atmosphere - 2
Ancient eggshells shed new light on crocodiles that hunted prey from trees - 3
I visited the largest collection of public telescopes in the US in Oregon's high desert, and the dark skies blew me away - 4
Raw oysters linked to ongoing salmonella outbreak infecting 64 across 22 states: CDC - 5
Heat Wave Fuels Massive Wildfire In Australia
Discovery off Israel’s coast reveals earliest known 2,600-year-old shipment of raw iron
WHO suspends medical evacuations from Gaza following death of contractor in 'security incident'
Tanzania president remorseful over internet shutdown on election day
75% of US adults may meet criteria for obesity under new definition, study finds
Surprise! Saturn's huge moon Titan may not have a buried ocean after all
Involved Vehicles for Seniors: Track down the Best Picks for Solace and Unwavering quality
The most effective method to Move toward Compensation Conversations for Cutting edge Practice Enrolled Attendants
Activists guilty over Palestine protest breach
Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS isn't an alien spacecraft, astronomers confirm. 'In the end, there were no surprises.'













