The Artemis II crew was more than 100,000 miles from Earth on Friday — nearly halfway to the moon — when they photographed the shrinking planet and shared reflections from orbit. National Correspondent Mark Strassmann reports the images and the astronauts’ remarks capture both the technical achievement and the human perspective aboard the Orion capsule.
Planet Earth, as seen from Artemis II, offered a reminder of scale and shared identity. Victor Glover told viewers, “Trust us, you look amazing. You look beautiful, no matter where you’re from or what you look like. We’re all one people.” The crew’s photos and words followed a Thursday engine burn, the Trans‑Lunar Injection (TLI), that pushed the capsule out of Earth orbit and onto its path to the moon.
Flight veteran Christina Koch framed the maneuver philosophically: “With this burn to the moon, we do not leave Earth. We choose it.” After a roughly four‑day transit, Artemis II is due to perform a mission‑defining lunar flyby Monday night, passing within about 4,000 miles of the moon’s surface. That flyby will mark the farthest anyone has traveled from Earth in human spaceflight history and represents an early step in returning humans to lunar operations.
Inside the spacecraft, anticipation and awe mingled. Crew members described waking to see the full moon straight ahead and expressed appreciation for the teams supporting the mission on the ground. As the capsule closes on its destination, the small, bright dot of the moon draws ever nearer, and the four people aboard continue to carry an image of Earth that emphasizes both achievement and unity.