Witness a rare spectacle: the distant Earth vanishing behind the massive moon, a moment experienced by only a few.
Subscribe for uninterrupted access to this incredible story.
Enjoy unlimited, ad-free articles and exclusive content.
NASA astronaut Reed Wiseman, commander of the lunar orbiting Artemis II mission, shared a breathtaking video of Earth fading away from the far side of the moon.
“It’s like experiencing a beach sunset from the most exotic seat in the universe,” Wiseman commented on the video, captured through the Orion spacecraft’s window. He described this moment as a “once in a lifetime opportunity.”
On April 1, Wiseman and fellow NASA astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen embarked on their lunar journey. After orbiting both Earth and the moon for 10 days, they returned home on April 10, landing in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego.
During their mission, the Artemis II crew became the first humans to experience the moon’s far side—an area that remains hidden from Earth.
Wiseman couldn’t resist filming the Earthset using his cellphone while orbiting the moon on April 6, capturing intricate details of the cratered lunar surface.
“The docking hatch window barely revealed the moon,” Wiseman noted. “But an iPhone perfectly captured the view, with an uncropped, uncut 8x zoom, akin to the human eye’s perspective.”
While Wiseman recorded the Earthset, his crew members diligently photographed and documented the moon’s varied terrain and impact craters.
“Listen to the Nikon shutter as @Astro_Christina takes that stunning Earthset photo through the 400mm lens,” Wiseman shared on X about Koch’s work.
NASA
The astronauts dedicated around seven hours to take photographs and collect data during this historic lunar flight. Upcoming releases will showcase more breathtaking images of the moon’s landscapes with Earth in the background.
Wiseman’s Earthset video pays tribute to the iconic Earthrise photo from the 1968 Apollo 8 mission. Whereas Apollo 8 showcased the Earth emerging, Wiseman’s video depicts it vanishing.
William Anders / NASA
Artemis II marked NASA’s first moon mission in over 50 years. Wiseman, Koch, Glover, and Hansen were the pioneers traveling aboard the Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule.
Looking forward, NASA’s Artemis III mission is set for mid-2027. The mission aims to remain in low-Earth orbit, executing technology tests with either a SpaceX or Blue Origin lunar lander before the upcoming lunar landing scheduled for Artemis IV in 2028. The agency intends to have one of the landers rendezvous with the Orion capsule in lunar orbit for a crewed lunar descent.
Source: www.nbcnews.com
