Artemis II Astronauts Capture First Images of Earth En Route to Moon

NASA's Artemis II mission, the first crewed lunar journey in over five decades, has released its initial images of Earth as the spacecraft heads toward the Moon.

Captured by mission commander Reid Wiseman, the photographs showcase Earth's vibrant blues and browns, with swirling clouds and a glowing green aurora visible over the poles. One image, taken from the Orion capsule's window, presents the planet's curvature, while another offers a full view of the globe.

The crew, consisting of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 1, 2026. They are on a 10-day mission that includes a lunar flyby without landing, aiming to pave the way for future missions that will return humans to the lunar surface.

As of Friday morning, the Orion spacecraft was approximately 100,000 miles from Earth, en route to the Moon, which it is expected to reach by Monday. The mission marks a significant step in NASA's efforts to return humans to the Moon and further deep-space exploration.