Nasa on Tuesday released a new set of images captured during the historic Artemis II mission, offering a dramatic glimpse of Earth and the Moon from deep space. The photographs, taken on April 6, include a crescent Earthrise and a rare close-up of the Moon’s farside—regions largely unseen by human eyes.The images were revealed days after the mission’s successful conclusion, which saw astronauts return safely to Earth following a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on April 10. The nearly 10-day journey also marked a major milestone during the lunar flyby, when the Orion spacecraft reached its maximum distance of about 252,756 miles (406,771 km) from Earth—surpassing the previous record set during Apollo 13—while entering a rare solar eclipse phase on the Moon’s far side.
Launched on April 1 from Kennedy Space Center aboard the Space Launch System, the mission carried four astronauts on the Orion capsule Integrity. The spacecraft travelled approximately 694,392 miles (over 1.1 million km), venturing farther into space than any human mission since the Apollo era.One of the images showed a close-up of the Birkhoff crater on the Moon’s far side. Located in the lunar highlands, the impact crater—formed over billions of years—appeared under low-light conditions, with the underexposed frame revealing subtle variations in surface texture and topography.
The lighting highlighted differences in surface roughness and ejecta patterns, offering a clearer view of the crater’s structure and surrounding terrain.
Photo credit: Nasa
Another image showed Nasa’s Orion spacecraft, photographed from a camera mounted on its solar array wings while the crew was in a scheduled sleep period ahead of the mission’s seventh day, capturing a quiet moment during the journey.
Photo credit: Nasa
According to Nasa, Artemis II is a crucial step toward future crewed lunar landings under its Artemis programme, paving the way for sustained human presence on and around the Moon in the coming years.
