NASA releases more than 12,000 images from historic Artemis II moon mission

Over the weekend, NASA made public more than 12,000 photos from the historic Artemis II lunar mission.

Last month, the four-person crew traveled 694,481 miles and looped around the far side of the moon for the first time in more than 50 years.

The crew broke the record for the farthest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth and saw more of the far side of the moon than anyone before them.

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Over the course of the mission, NASA released dozens of images of the astronauts, Earth, the moon and even a total solar eclipse.

However, the new trove reveals some never-before-seen photos as well as new angles of objects in space, primarily using Nikon cameras and iPhone 17s.

Included in the set are star trails — or long exposure photographs showing the movement of stars in the sky — close-up shots of the lunar surface, the sun’s corona peeking out from behind the moon during the solar eclipse and the Milky Way galaxy.

Another set of images show mission commander Reid Wiseman, mission pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen each posing in front of a window on the Orion spacecraft with a crescent Earth in the distance.

Scroll down to see some of the newly released images:

NASA – PHOTO: New image taken during the April 2026 Artemis II moon mission and released to the public on May 4, 2026, by NASA.

NASA – PHOTO: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen pose in the Orion spacecraft with the crescent Earth behind them during the April 2026 Artemis moon mission and relased to the public, May 4, 2026.