The crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission has reached the halfway mark between Earth and the Moon, releasing striking high-resolution images of the planet from deep space.
The images, described by the agency as “spectacular,” were taken by mission commander Reid Wiseman after the spacecraft completed a crucial engine burn that placed it on a trajectory towards the Moon.
Data from NASA indicated that the Orion spacecraft was about 142,000 miles (228,500 kilometres) from Earth and approximately 132,000 miles from the Moon as of early Saturday.
Astronaut Christina Koch said the crew reacted with excitement upon learning they had reached the milestone roughly two days, five hours and 24 minutes after liftoff.
One of the images, titled Hello, World, shows a vivid view of Earth dominated by the Atlantic Ocean, with a glowing atmospheric edge and faint green auroras visible near the poles. Parts of the western Sahara, the Iberian Peninsula and eastern South America were also captured.
Another image, taken from inside the Orion capsule, shows the Earth through one of the spacecraft’s windows, while a bright object identified by NASA as Venus appears in the background.
The photographs were captured shortly after the crew successfully executed a trans-lunar injection burn, which propelled the spacecraft out of Earth’s orbit and set it on course for the Moon, a journey spanning over 200,000 miles.
Artemis II is following a looping trajectory that will take the astronauts around the far side of the Moon before returning to Earth. The mission marks the first time since 1972 that humans have travelled beyond low Earth orbit.
Launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the spacecraft is expected to fly past the far side of the Moon on April 6 before returning to Earth on April 10, with a planned splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
Mission specialist Jeremy Hansen said the crew spent time observing and photographing the view after the manoeuvre.
“We are getting a beautiful view of the dark side of the Earth, lit by the Moon,” he said during communication with mission control.
Wiseman also noted initial challenges in capturing the images due to exposure difficulties but later confirmed improved results.
Additional photographs showed the Earth divided between daylight and darkness a boundary known as the terminator as well as nighttime views with city lights visible across the planet.
NASA also released a comparison of the latest images with similar photographs taken during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, highlighting advancements in space imaging while noting the enduring beauty of Earth from space.
