NASA has unveiled the inaugural set of images captured by the Artemis II mission to the moon.
The first photograph, named ‘Earthset’, was snapped from the moon’s far side and depicts Earth as it disappears behind the lunar horizon.
This powerful image pays homage to the iconic ‘Earthrise’ photograph taken during NASA’s Apollo 8 mission over half a century ago.
NASA elaborated on X, stating, “The Artemis II crew took this striking Earthset view on April 6, 2026, during their lunar flyby. This image echoes the legendary Earthrise photo captured by astronaut Bill Anders 58 years prior, as the Apollo 8 crew orbited the Moon.”
The second image is dubbed ‘The Artemis II Eclipse’ and captures the mesmerizing moment the moon blocked out the sun.
The White House shared the photo on X, commenting, “Totality, beyond Earth. From lunar orbit, the Moon eclipses the Sun, offering a rare view witnessed by few in human history.”
The images 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 the 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 distance of more than 252,756 miles (406,771km) 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 (66,098km) above the lunar surface, the moon appeared about as large as a basketball held at arm’s length.
After the White House shared the Earthset image, one social media user commented that it was the ‘most beautiful picture’ they had ever seen.
‘We are tiny. It’s something incredible,’ another added.
One wrote: ‘Humanity keeps needing to leave Earth to remember what Earth is.’
Meanwhile, the Artemis II Eclipse photo was dubbed ‘absolutely breathtaking’ by one viewer.
‘Earthset’ is a nod to Earthrise – the famous photo captured by NASA’s Apollo 8 mission more than 50 years ago
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.
