NASA releases stunning first images of Earth captured by moonbound Artemis II astronauts
REVIEW FROM A STATE AUDITOR ASSIGNED BY FLORIDA’S ATTORNEY GENERAL. ALL RIGHT. WE WANT TO GO INTO DEEP SPACE NOW. LIVE VIEWS FROM NASA TV, WHERE THE CREW OF ARTEMIS TWO IS INCHING CLOSER TO HISTORY. A LOT OF SPACE THERE AND INCHING FURTHER AWAY FROM EARTH TOO, BUT NOT BEFORE THEY TOOK THIS PICTURE. THIS IS A VIEW OF EARTH TAKEN BY COMMANDER REID WISEMAN. AFTER THE CREW COMPLETED THAT CRITICAL BURN LAST NIGHT, PUTTING THEM ON THE TRACK TO THE MOON. WESH 2’S MEGHAN MORIARTY IS LIVE AT THE KENNEDY SPACE CENTER WITH A LOOK AT WHAT’S ON THE PLATE TODAY. MEGHAN. WELL, RIGHT NOW, THE ARTEMIS TWO TEAM IS HEADING TO THE MOON, BUT IT’S GOING TO TAKE THREE DAYS. AND RIGHT NOW HERE, NASA IS WORKING ON ITS LUNAR TARGETING PLAN. WHAT THAT IS, IS THE PLAN FOR WHEN THEY FLY AROUND THE MOON. AND THE PLAN THERE RIGHT NOW IS TO OBVIOUSLY DOCUMENT SOME OF IT. SO THIS WAY THEY CAN BRING THAT BACK TO SCIENTISTS HERE ON EARTH ONCE THEY SPLASHDOWN AFTER THEIR TEN DAY MISSION. IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE WE’VE BEEN BACK AFTER A SUCCESSFUL TRANSLUNAR INJECTION BURN. RIGHT NOW WE’RE IN OUR CRUISE PHASE. OUTBOUND. NASA’S ARTEMIS TWO CREW IS ON ITS WAY TO A LUNAR FLYBY. AND I GOT TO TELL YOU, THERE IS NOTHING NORMAL ABOUT THIS FOR HUMANS, 250,000 MILES AWAY IS A HERCULEAN EFFORT, AND WE ARE NOW JUST REALIZING THE GRAVITY OF THAT. ON THURSDAY, THEY RAMPED UP THEIR MAIN ENGINE TO THRUST THE SPACECRAFT OUT OF EARTH’S ORBIT AND ON A TRAJECTORY TOWARDS THE MOON. THEY BURNED ABOUT 1,000 POUNDS OF FUEL AND 6,700 POUNDS OF THRUST, EQUIVALENT TO A CAR GOING FROM 0 TO 60MPH IN ABOUT 2.7 SECONDS. IT WAS THE MOST SPECTACULAR MOMENT, AND IT CAUSED ALL FOUR OF US IN OUR TRACKS. BACK HERE ON EARTH. THE LUNAR SCIENCE TEAM IS PREPARING FOR THAT MOON FLYBY. WE’RE HERE AT LAUNCH PAD 39 B WITH NASA’S MOBILE LAUNCHER HERE BEHIND US. ARTEMIS TWO IS UP IN SPACE. AND WE WANT TO GIVE YOU A PERSPECTIVE OF WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE UP THERE. SO PRETEND THAT THIS IS THE EARTH AND THIS IS THE MOON. SCIENCE FICTION WOULD HAVE YOU THINK THAT THEY’RE ABOUT THIS FAR APART FROM ONE ANOTHER, BUT IN REALITY, THE EARTH AND THE MOON ARE SO MUCH FURTHER FROM ONE ANOTHER. IN FACT, IT’S GOING TO TAKE THE CREW THREE DAYS TO GET TO THE MOON AT 24,000MPH. BUT THERE’S NOTHING THAT PREPARES YOU FOR THE BREATHTAKING ASPECT OF SEEING YOUR HOME PLANET. BOTH LIT UP BRIGHT AS DAY, AND ALSO THE MOON GLOW ON IT AT NIGHT, WITH A BEAUTIFUL BEAM OF THE SUNSET. AND KNOWING THAT WE’RE GOING TO GET SIMILAR VIEWS OF THE MOON, I’M JUST I’M REALLY EXCITED FOR THAT. ON MONDAY, DURING THE CREW’S SIX HOUR MOON FLYBY, THEY’LL DOCUMENT THINGS LIKE CRATERS, CRACKS AND RIDGES ON THE MOON’S OUTER LAYER SO WE CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW THE SOLAR SYSTEM WAS FORMED. AND SO WE’VE BEEN ABLE TO SEE LIV INSIDE THE ORION CAPSULE. WE’VE SEEN THE CREW EXERCISING. THEY’VE ASKED SOME QUESTIONS, SOME REAL PEOPLE QUESTIONS LIKE, HEY, WHERE’S THE ELECTRICAL RAZOR? AND A LOT OF SMILES AND LOTS OF THUMBS UP RIGHT NOW, THOSE CAMERAS HAVE BEEN BRIEFLY SHUT OFF SO THEY CAN HAVE SOME PRIVATE FACETIME PHONE CALLS WITH THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS, BUT THEY’RE IN G
By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer
The Artemis II astronauts have captured our blue planet’s brilliant beauty as they zoom ever closer to the moon.NASA released the crew’s first downlinked images Friday, 1 1/2 days into the first astronaut moonshot in more than half a century.The first photo taken by commander Reid Wiseman shows a curved slice of Earth in one of the capsule’s windows. The second shows the entire globe with the oceans topped by swirling white tendrils of clouds. A green aurora even glows, according to NASA.“It’s great to think that with the exception of our four friends, all of us are represented in this image,” said NASA’s Lakiesha Hawkins, an exploration systems leader. She added that the mission was going well. As of late Friday afternoon, Wiseman and his crew were more than 110,000 miles (180,000 kilometers) from Earth and were quickly gaining on the moon with another 150,000 miles (240,000 kilometers) to go. They should reach their destination on Monday.The three Americans and one Canadian will swing around the moon in their Orion capsule, hang a U-turn, and then head straight back home without stopping. They fired Orion’s main engine Thursday night, which set them on their course.After Mission Control shifted the position of their capsule, the entire Earth, complete with northern lights, filled their windows.“It was the most spectacular moment, and it paused all four of us in our tracks,” Wiseman said in a TV interview.They’re the first lunar travelers since Apollo 17 in 1972.Video below: NASA officials provided a mission update on the afternoon of Friday, April 3
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. —
The Artemis II astronauts have captured our blue planet’s brilliant beauty as they zoom ever closer to the moon.
NASA released the crew’s first downlinked images Friday, 1 1/2 days into the first astronaut moonshot in more than half a century.
The first photo taken by commander Reid Wiseman shows a curved slice of Earth in one of the capsule’s windows. The second shows the entire globe with the oceans topped by swirling white tendrils of clouds. A green aurora even glows, according to NASA.
NASA via CNN Newsource
On April 3, NASA shared one of the first photos taken by the Artemis II crew during the mission.
“It’s great to think that with the exception of our four friends, all of us are represented in this image,” said NASA’s Lakiesha Hawkins, an exploration systems leader. She added that the mission was going well.
As of late Friday afternoon, Wiseman and his crew were more than 110,000 miles (180,000 kilometers) from Earth and were quickly gaining on the moon with another 150,000 miles (240,000 kilometers) to go. They should reach their destination on Monday.
The three Americans and one Canadian will swing around the moon in their Orion capsule, hang a U-turn, and then head straight back home without stopping. They fired Orion’s main engine Thursday night, which set them on their course.
NASA via AP
This image from video provided by NASA shows the Artemis II crew, from left, Canadian astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, Commander Reid Wiseman, mission specialist Christina Koch and pilot Victor Glover as they speak with NASA Mission Control in a video conference while en route to the moon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (NASA via AP) CORRECTION: headed to the moon, not in moon’s orbit
After Mission Control shifted the position of their capsule, the entire Earth, complete with northern lights, filled their windows.
Reid Wiseman/NASA via CNN Newsource
On April 3, NASA shared one of the first photos taken by the Artemis II crew during the mission.
“It was the most spectacular moment, and it paused all four of us in our tracks,” Wiseman said in a TV interview.
They’re the first lunar travelers since Apollo 17 in 1972.
Video below: NASA officials provided a mission update on the afternoon of Friday, April 3