NASA released the first photos of Earth taken by the Artemis II crew on Friday, hours after the mission left Earth orbit. The first image, captured by commander Reid Wiseman from an Orion capsule window, shows the full planet with both Northern and Southern lights visible over the poles and zodiacal light — sunlight reflecting off dust in the solar system — visible at the lower right. NASA captioned the photo, “Hello, World.”
The picture was taken after the crew completed their translunar injection burn. NASA is also providing a livestream of Orion’s views as it travels to and around the moon.
On X, NASA wrote, “We see our home planet as a whole, lit up in spectacular blues and browns. A green aurora even lights up the atmosphere. That’s us, together, watching as our astronauts make their journey to the Moon.”
Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen told mission control that the crew was “glued to the window” and taking pictures after breaking out of Earth orbit. Wiseman, speaking with reporters late Thursday, described a moment when Houston reoriented the spacecraft as the sun set behind Earth, allowing the crew to see the entire globe from pole to pole, including Africa, Europe and the Northern Lights — a sight that paused all four astronauts.
NASA shared another image showing a sliver of Earth through the Orion window and posted high-resolution views to social platforms with the caption, “Good morning, world!”
Artemis II is on a trajectory that will carry the astronauts around the far side of the moon on Monday and then back toward Earth. The crew is expected to travel farther from Earth than anyone before them, reaching about 252,021 miles as they pass behind the moon.
Beyond capturing unprecedented images of the lunar far side, Artemis II is a test flight to validate flight controllers and procedures needed to return astronauts to the moon for longer stays as NASA plans for a future moon base. “This is a test flight,” Jared Isaacman told CBS News. “This is the opening act in a series of missions that will send astronauts to and from the moon with great frequency as we return to stay.”