NASA Artemis II Moon Flyby Views: New Photo Release

NASA Artemis II Moon Flyby Views: New Photo Release

This photo of a crescent Moon and crescent Earth was taken by an Artemis II astronaut during lunar flyby on flight day 6. This captures one of the final moments before their loss of signal with Earth as the Orion spacecraft flew around the far side of the Moon, reemerging and regaining contact approximately 40 minutes later.

The Moon appears half-illuminated in this photo captured by the Artemis II crew on flight day 6. The terminator—the place between light and darkness—provides a stark contrast and even greater perspective of the Moon's rocky, uneven, and otherworldly surface features. The near side that what we can see from Earth, appears in the dark gray regions at the top of this image.

The Artemis II crew was tasked with capturing many key features visible in this image of the Moon, captured on flight day 6. The terminator, the place where light and darkness meet, is visible on the top left. The large dark gray area toward center-left is Orientale Basin with characteristic dark patches of ancient lava flow that we see on the near side, visible on the right half of this image.

This photo of the Moon was captured by the Artemis II crew aboard the Orion spacecraft a few hours before the lunar flyby. During the flyby, the crew captured critical science observations as they traveled around the farside of the Moon, traveling farther than any humans ever before.

The first crewed test flight of NASA’s Artemis Program lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 1, 2026, carrying the first astronauts to travel to the Moon in more than half a century. 

During their nearly 10-day mission, the crew completed a record-setting lunar flyby, taking them 252,756 miles at their farthest distance from Earth and 4,067 miles above the lunar surface at their closest approach. 

Artemis II splashed down on April 10 in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego. Following splashdown and recovery, the four crew members underwent post-mission medical evaluations before returning to shore and boarding an aircraft bound for Houston. Upon arrival, the crew was welcomed by and reunited with their families, friends, and agency workforce. The crew has begun their postflight reconditioning, medical and human performance evaluations, and lunar science debriefs.

Under Artemis, NASA will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

Learn more about NASA's Artemis II Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Image Credit: NASA
Capture Date: April 6, 2026

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