The Artemis II astronauts hurtled deeper into space than any other humans during a moon flyby that marks NASA’s lunar comeback.
They were greeted by a total solar eclipse as they became the first to gaze by eye at parts of the elusive far side of the moon, before hanging a celestial U-turn for home.
A day after the historic lunar flyaround, NASA on Tuesday released striking new photos taken by the U.S.-Canadian crew.
The four astronauts channeled Apollo 8’s famous Earthrise shot from 1968 with their own: Earthset, showing our planet setting behind the gray, pockmarked moon. Another photo captured the total solar eclipse that occurred when the moon blocked the sun from the crew’s perspective.
In this image provided by NASA, The Artemis II crew captured this view of an Earthset on Monday, April 6, 2026, as they flew around the Moon. (NASA via AP) In this image provided by NASA, The Artemis II crew captured from lunar orbit, the Moon eclipses the Sun on Monday, April 6, 2026. (NASA via AP)By late Tuesday afternoon, the Artemis II astronauts had beamed back more than 50 gigabytes’ worth of pictures and other data from the previous day’s lunar rendezvous, which set a new distance record for humanity.
“While they are inspirational and, I think, allow all of us to really feel a little bit of what they were feeling, there’s also a lot of science hidden inside of those images,” said Mission Control’s lead lunar scientist Kelsey Young. “The conversations and the science lessons learned are just beginning.”
During a debriefing with Young, the astronauts recounted how they spotted a cascade of pinpricks of light on the lunar surface from impacting cosmic debris. The flashes lasted mere milliseconds and coincided by chance with Monday evening’s total solar eclipse.
Young said it was too soon to know whether the crew witnessed an actual meteor shower or more random, run-of-the-mill micrometeoroid hits. Either way, there were “audible screams of delight” in the science operations center, she said.
Koch described being awe-struck by not just the beauty of Earth, “but how much blackness there was around it.”
“It just made it even more special. It truly emphasized how alike we are, how the same thing keeps every single person on planet Earth alive,” she said. “The specialness and preciousness of that really is emphasized” when viewing the home planet from the moon.
See the images below:
NASA Apr 6‘Loved to the moon and back': Artemis II astronauts dedicate crater to commander's late wife
NASA Apr 7When Artemis II will return to Earth, and what the astronauts saw on their historic lunar flyby
This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.
Hence then, the article about views are everything artemis photos capture parts of moon no human has seen before was published today ( ) and is available on NBC Chicago ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( ‘Views are EVERYTHING': Artemis photos capture parts of moon no human has seen before )
Also on site :