NASA released the very first images taken by astronauts aboard the Artemis II Orion capsule as they are making their way to the moon. The stunning pictures were taken by mission commander Reid Wiseman using his Personal Computing Device — a tablet that includes a camera — and they are both views of Earth.
The first image was described by NASA mission control at Johnson Space Center in Houston as a “reminder that no matter how far we go, we are still one world, watching, hoping and reaching higher.” As the sun set behind Earth, auroras were visible to the top right and bottom left of the planet, and bright zodiacal light can be seen in a band at the bottom right.
Another image, taken just minutes apart, with a shorter shutter speed emphasizes Earth’s nighttime glow, according to NASA. The glow of electric lights can be seen sprinkled across the globe, while sunlight can be seen along the planet’s edge.
The Artemis crew will not land on the moon or even go into lunar orbit. Instead, the plan is to loop around it, getting an unprecedented view of the far side of the moon. In the process, the astronauts — commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen — are expected to travel farther from Earth than anyone before them.
But first, they must thoroughly test their Orion capsule, which is making only its second flight — and its first with a crew on board — to make sure it’s up to the task.
What to know for NASA’s Artemis II launch:
- NASA’s Artemis II astronauts launched on a nine-and-a-half-day mission around the moon and back. The rocket lifted off Wednesday evening from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:35 p.m. EDT. The spectacular launch marked the first piloted moonshot since the end of the Apollo program 53 years ago.
- After separating from the other rocket components, the Orion crew capsule is now in high Earth orbit in preparation for a Thursday night engine firing that will send it on its way to the moon.
- If all goes according to plan, the crew — commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen — will get an unprecedented view of the far side of the moon and set a record for the farthest distance ever traveled from Earth: 252,000 miles.
- Artemis II is intended as a test flight to check out systems and equipment, laying the groundwork for future missions to land astronauts on the moon in 2028.
