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NASA has unveiled the initial batch of photographs from the Artemis II mission to the moon.
One striking image, named ‘Earthset’, captures the Earth gracefully dipping beyond the lunar horizon, a view snapped from the moon’s far side. This evocative picture draws a parallel to the iconic ‘Earthrise’ photograph that NASA’s Apollo 8 mission took over half a century ago.
In a post on X, NASA elaborated, “The Artemis II crew took this breathtaking view of an Earthset on April 6, 2026, during their lunar flyby. This image echoes the historic Earthrise photo that astronaut Bill Anders captured 58 years earlier while the Apollo 8 crew orbited the moon.”
Another captivating photo, titled ‘The Artemis II Eclipse’, depicts the dramatic moment when the moon eclipsed the sun, offering a stunning celestial spectacle.
The second photo is titled ‘The Artemis II Eclipse’, and shows the moment the moon eclipsed the sun.Â
‘Totality, beyond Earth,’ the White House said as it shared the photo on X (formerly Twitter).Â
‘From lunar orbit, the Moon eclipses the Sun, revealing a view few in human history have ever witnessed.’
The stunning snaps have been released hours after NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, became the first people to travel around the far side of the moon in over 50 years.
The first image, titled ‘Earthset’, was taken from the far side of the moon, and shows Earth dipping beyond the lunar horizon
The second photo is titled ‘The Artemis II Eclipse’, and shows the moment the moon eclipsed the sun
During their six–hour lunar flyby, the Artemis II crew reached a staggering 252,756 miles (406,771 km) from Earth, surpassing the distance achieved by the Apollo missions and setting a new record.
In doing so, they became the first humans in half a decade to witness the far side of the moon with the naked eye.
From their position 41,072 miles (66,098 km) above the lunar surface, the moon appeared about as large as a basketball held at arm’s length.
After the White House shared the new Earthset image, space fans flocked to X to discuss it.Â
‘We are tiny. It’s something incredible,’ one user replied.Â
Another added: ‘Humanity keeps needing to leave Earth to remember what Earth is.’
And one wrote: ‘That’s the most beautiful picture I have ever seen in my life.’
Meanwhile the Artemis II eclipse was dubbed ‘absolutely breathtaking’ by one viewer.
‘Earthset’ is a lovely nod to Earthrise – the famous photo captured by NASA’s Apollo 8 mission more than 50 years ago (pictured)
Another said: ‘Absolutely surreal… seeing the Sun vanish behind the Moon from lunar orbit is something only a handful of humans have witnessed!’
And one quipped: ‘This is absolutely mind blowing, it almost doesnt look real. These brave astronauts are living their dream right now, so jealous!!!’
As the astronauts passed by the far side of the moon, they recorded as much as they could about the surface below, taking photographs, sketching, and making audio recordings of their own observations.
The moon’s far side looks very different from the familiar near side, with heavily cratered terrain, a thicker crust and far fewer of the dark volcanic plains visible from Earth.
As the astronauts swept over the far side in the Orion capsule, they reported seeing striking geometric patterns, winding formations they called ‘squiggles’ and unexpected shades of green and brown across the rugged lunar terrain.
Although satellites have taken images of the moon’s far side, some of these features have never been seen by the human eye.
In particular, astronauts spotted newly formed craters on the lunar surface that stand out like tiny holes in a lampshade.
Christina Koch told the NASA control room: ‘All the really bright, new craters, some of them are super tiny, most of them are pretty small, there’s a couple that really stand out, obviously, and what it really looks like is a lampshade with tiny pinprick holes and the light shining through.’
Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen made a special request to NASA mission control to name two of these new craters that they had ‘observed, both with our naked eye and with our long lens’.
The first he asked to name Integrity, after the name the astronauts have given to their Orion crew capsule, and the other Carroll, to commemorate Reid Wiseman’s late wife, who died of cancer in 2020.
Mr Hansen said in an emotional tribute: ‘A number of years ago we started this journey… and we lost a loved one and there’s a feature on a really neat place on the moon… at certain times of the Moon’s transit around Earth we will be able to see this from Earth.’
The announcement prompted the astronauts to embrace, while mission control in Houston fell silent in a rare moment of reflection.
Having passed the moon, the Orion crew capsule will now ride the tug of Earth’s gravity back home over the coming days, with splashdown expected on Friday.
Their final ordeal will be a blazing re–entry into the planet’s atmosphere, as the capsule hits the atmosphere at around 25,000 miles per hour (40,200 km/h) before deploying its parachutes and landing in the Pacific Ocean.