For 10 days in April, NASA’s Artemis II crew traveled around the far side of the Moon and back, marking one of the most important crewed lunar missions since the Apollo era. But alongside the technical milestones, the astronauts also documented the journey in a far more human way, by taking thousands upon thousands of photographs.
More than 12,000 images, to be exact. Like any group returning from a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, the crew captured everything they could: Earth glowing in the distance, dramatic lunar landscapes, life inside the Orion spacecraft, moments between astronauts, and the surreal experience of seeing space from a perspective few humans have ever witnessed firsthand. Scroll down to see some of our favorites.
#21 The Moon’s Great Scar
During the lunar flyby observation period, the Artemis II crew captures a detailed image of the Orientale basin, a 600-mile-wide impact crater marked by a dark patch of ancient lava that erupted through the Moon’s crust billions of years ago.
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#22 Capturing The Details Of The Moon And The Beauty Of Earth
As the Artemis II crew came close to passing behind the Moon and experiencing a planned loss of signal, they captured this image of a crescent Earth. Seen from afar, it almost looks like a circular arc – except when backlit, as in other images captured by the Artemis II crew. Earth is in a crescent phase, with sunlight coming from the right. The dark portion of Earth is experiencing nighttime. On Earth’s day side, swirling clouds are visible over muted blue in the Australia and Oceania region.
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#23 Crescent Earth Over Lunar Horizon
The Artemis II crew captures a faint view of a crescent Earth above the horizon on the Moon’s far side.
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