Take a moment to breathe. After an extraordinary 10 days in deep space, the Artemis II crew has safely returned to Earth. This marks the first time humans have journeyed to the moon since 1972.
The mission launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 1, 2026, successfully reaching lunar orbit by April 5. Just a day later, the astronauts passed behind the moon, resulting in a communication blackout with Earth, a rare silence reminiscent of the Apollo missions.
The significance of this moment—and the mission as a whole—cannot be overstated. For over 50 years, human spaceflight has primarily remained within low-Earth orbit. Artemis II has fundamentally changed that, demonstrating NASA’s readiness for the next bold steps in lunar exploration.
Next up is Artemis III, slated for mid-2027, which will stay in low Earth orbit to test rendezvous and docking with a commercial lunar lander. Ultimately, Artemis IV aims to place a crew on the moon as early as 2028.
Here are some stunning images captured by the Artemis II crew during their historic voyage.
This breathtaking view of Earth, captured by Artemis II mission commander Reed Wiseman, was taken from the Orion spacecraft on April 2, 2026, shortly after the engines ignited to propel the spacecraft out of Earth’s orbit toward the moon.
Christina Koch, mission specialist for Artemis II, is seen preparing for the lunar flyby after completing an aerobic exercise session on the spacecraft’s flywheel apparatus on day four of the mission.
Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, another mission specialist, enjoys a shave aboard the Orion spacecraft ahead of their lunar flyby on April 6, 2026.
Victor Glover, the pilot and NASA astronaut, gazes back at Earth from one of the Orion spacecraft’s windows.
The “Earthset” photo captured by the Artemis II crew as they passed the moon on April 6, 2026, showcases a muted blue Earth, streaked with bright white clouds, setting against the cratered lunar horizon.
The foreground features the moon’s Ohm crater, characterized by its stepped edges and flat floor disrupted by central peaks formed shortly after an impact.
The above image captures the Orion spacecraft under the sun, with the jagged waxing moon in the distance. The vast Oriental Basin, a 965 km wide impact site, is found on the moon’s surface.
This expansive basin serves as a natural boundary between the moon’s sides—one obscured from terrestrial view and the other marked by vast, dark plains from ancient lava.
The Artemis II crew—Mission Specialist Christina Koch (top left), Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen (bottom left), Commander Reed Wiseman (bottom right), and Pilot Victor Glover (top right)—use solar eclipse viewers during the solar eclipse they experienced during their lunar flight.
This close-up shows Vavilov Crater on the far side of the moon, revealing notable topographical changes, from the smooth ground encircled by mountains to the rough terrain beyond.
A long shadow stretches across the Terminator scene, accentuating Vavilov’s structure and debris from past collisions.
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Victor Glover and Christina Koch devoted several hours to documenting the moon as the spacecraft approached on day six of their journey.
Over a span of seven hours, the crew took turns capturing images and observations while the spacecraft was positioned behind the moon, coming within 6,545 km of the lunar surface at its closest point.
As the Artemis II crew flew over the lunar day-night boundary, they observed that the line was “not straight.” The crater’s jagged edges caught sunlight, appearing like isolated “islands” against the darkness.
The vast Oriental Basin, which formed approximately 3.7 billion years ago, provides a long chain of small craters across the lunar surface, hinting at the basin’s even older geological history.
From left to right, the Artemis program’s first science officers—Angela Garcia, Kelsey Young, and Trevor Graff—are pictured in the white flight control room of the Christopher C. Craft Jr. Mission Control Center, monitoring spacecraft data in real-time.
Jeremy Hansen, a crew member of Artemis II, captures an image through one of the Orion spacecraft’s windows, using a camera shroud to ensure a clear shot.
In this stunning image, our planet appears as a delicate crescent against the lunar horizon. The sunlight illuminates bright clouds over Australia’s muted blues as secondary crater chains mar the moon’s surface below.
NASA’s Orion spacecraft is photographed from a camera mounted on its solar array wing during a sleep period for the crew, marking the seventh day of their mission.
The Artemis II crew awaits airlift from a recovery raft, surrounded by Navy divers in the Pacific Ocean.
Victor Glover and Christina Koch relax in a U.S. Navy Seahawk helicopter following their successful mission recovery.
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Source: www.sciencefocus.com
