Artemis II astronauts shared unique photos of Earth and the Moon

Artemis II astronauts are returning to Earth after their historic flight around the Moon.

During the flyby on April 6, the NASA Artemis II crew reached a record distance from our planet in the history of human spaceflight – approximately 406,000 kilometers (252,756 miles), surpassing the distance achieved by the Apollo 13 mission in 1970.

This expedition was the first manned mission around the Moon since 1972. Four astronauts – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Jeremy Hansen – embarked on a 10-day space journey to fly around the Moon without landing on its surface. The Orion spacecraft, named Integrity by the crew, was launched into orbit aboard a NASA Space Launch System rocket from Cape Canaveral on April 1, 2026.

The mission included a six-hour flyby of the “dark side” of the Moon, where the astronauts observed previously inaccessible surface regions for the first time, recorded meteor showers, and took photographs. During the flyby, communication with Earth was interrupted for approximately 40 minutes, after which the signal was restored.

The crew also proposed unofficial names for two new lunar craters: Integrity, in honor of the spacecraft, and Carroll, in memory of the spouse of one of the astronauts.

The mission captured unique images of the lunar surface, adding valuable data to NASA’s archives for future research.

Artemis II is seen as an important step in preparing for subsequent lunar landings and larger space programs, including the establishment of a permanent lunar base and future missions to Mars.

To be continued…