science

Artemis II beams first Earth photos as crew races to the moon

The Artemis II crew sent back the mission's first photos of Earth from the Orion capsule as they travel toward a planned lunar flyby, marking the return of astronauts to lunar space after more than 50 years.

Apr 3rd 2026 · United States

Insights

  • NASA released the first downlinked images from Orion showing Earth one and a half days into the mission.
  • Commander Reid Wiseman took photos showing a curved slice of Earth and a full globe with cloud patterns.
  • As of April 3, 2026 the crew was about 90,000 miles from Earth and roughly 168,000 miles from the moon.
  • Orion fired its main engine Thursday night to enter a translunar trajectory for a lunar flyby and return, the first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17 in 1972.

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