NASA Astronauts Took Thousands Of Photos During Artemis II, And These 23 Stand Out The Most

This nighttime picture of Earth was taken on April 2, 2026, by an Artemis II crew member aiming a camera through a window of the Orion spacecraft. The image was captured after Orion completed its translunar injection burn, the critical maneuver that sent the spacecraft on its path toward the Moon and back.

A view of a backlit Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman from one of the Orion spacecraft's window after completing the translunar injection burn on April 2, 2026.

Earth sets at 5:41 p.m. CDT, April 6, 2026, over the Moon’s curved limb in this photo captured by the Artemis II crew during their journey around the far side of the Moon. Orientale Basin is perched on the edge of the visible lunar surface. Hertzsprung Basin appears as two subtle concentric rings, which are interrupted by Vavilov, a younger crater superimposed over the older structure. The lines of indentations are secondary crater chains formed by ejecta from the massive impact that created Orientale. The dark portion of Earth is experiencing nighttime. On Earth’s day side, swirling clouds are visible over the Australia and Oceania region.

Captured by the Artemis II crew during their lunar flyby on April 6, 2026, this image shows the Moon fully eclipsing the Sun. From the crew’s perspective, the Moon appears large enough to completely block the Sun, creating nearly 54 minutes of totality and extending the view far beyond what is possible from Earth. We see a glowing halo around the dark lunar disk. The scientific community is investigating whether this effect is due to the corona, zodiacal light, or a combination of the two. Also visible are stars, typically too faint to see when imaging the Moon, but with the Moon in darkness, stars are readily imaged. This unique vantage point provides both a striking visual and a valuable opportunity for astronauts to document their observations during humanity’s return to deep space. The faint glow of the nearside of the Moon is visible in this image, having been illuminated by light reflected from Earth. Editor's note: This caption was updated on April 8, 2026, to reflect ongoing scientific observations and discussion about the image.

NASA astronaut Christina Koch is illuminated by a screen inside the darkened Orion spacecraft on the third day of the agency's Artemis II mission. To the right of the image's center, CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen is seen in profile peering out of one of Orion's windows. Lights are turned off to avoid glare on the windows.

A close-up view taken by the Artemis II crew of Vavilov Crater on the rim of the older and larger Hertzsprung basin. The right portion of the image shows the transition from smooth material within an inner ring of mountains to more rugged terrain around the rim. Vavilov and other craters and their ejecta are accentuated by long shadows at the terminator, the boundary between lunar day and night. The image was captured with a handheld camera at a focal length of 400 mm, as the crew flew around the far side of the Moon.

NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows, looking back at Earth, as the crew travels towards the Moon.

A sliver of the edge of Earth is brightly illuminated against the vast darkness of space.

A thin arc glowing in the darkness of space. Sunlight traces the curves of the ocean and clouds, while the rest of the planet fades into shadow.

Resembling a “handprint” to the Artemis II crew, this view highlights contrasting dark and light features on the Moon’s surface. From top to bottom, the darker regions include Oceanus Procellarum, Mare Humorum—known as the “Sea of Moisture”—and the crater Byrgius A.

A view of Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman from one of the Orion spacecraft's four main windows after completing the translunar injection burn on April 2, 2026.

Orion snapped this high-resolution selfie in space with a camera mounted on one of its solar array wings during a routine external inspection of the spacecraft on the second day into the Artemis II mission.

This view of the Moon captures the terminator—the shifting boundary between day and night—where sunlight grazes the surface at a low angle. Taken by the crew during the Artemis II mission, the lighting accentuates the Moon’s rugged terrain, casting long shadows that reveal the depth and structure of craters, ridges, and surrounding highlands.

Earth is illuminated against the blackness of space in this photo taken by an Artemis II crew member through an Orion spacecraft window on the second day of the mission.

A diverse set of lunar features is visible in this view, including the brightly colored Aristarchus crater, whose high reflectivity stands out against the surrounding terrain. Nearby, the Marius Hills region reveals a field of volcanic domes and cones, evidence of past lunar volcanism. The sinuous Reiner Gamma swirl contrasts with the darker mare surface, while rays from Glushko crater streak across the plains. At the bottom of the frame, the dark-floored Grimaldi crater anchors the scene.

A view from the window of the Orion spacecraft approximately 9 minutes before Earthset during the Artemis II lunar flyby on April 6, 2026.

Captured through the Orion spacecraft window at 6:41 p.m. EDT, April 6, 2026, during the Artemis II crew’s flyby of the Moon. A muted blue Earth with bright white clouds sets behind the cratered lunar surface. The dark portion of Earth is experiencing nighttime. On Earth’s day side, swirling clouds are visible over the Australia and Oceania region. In the foreground, Ohm crater has terraced edges and a flat floor interrupted by central peaks—formed when the surface rebounded upward during the impact that created the crater.

A view of Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman from one of the Orion spacecraft's four windows after completing the translunar injection burn on April 2, 2026.

Before going to sleep on flight day 5, the Artemis II crew snapped one more photo of the Moon, as it drew close in the window of the Orion spacecraft. Orion and the four humans aboard entered the lunar sphere of influence at 12:37 a.m. EDT on April 6, at the tail end of the fifth day of their mission. That marked the point at which the Moon's gravity had a stronger pull on the spacecraft than the Earth's. Artemis II's closet approach to the Moon will come on flight day 6, as they swing around the far side before beginning their journey back to Earth. About an hour after entering the lunar sphere of influence, Artemis II Mission Specialist Christina Koch said, "We are now falling to the Moon rather than rising away from Earth. It is an amazing milestone!"

In this view of the Moon, the near side (the hemisphere we see from Earth) is visible at the top half of the Moon's disk. It is identifiable by the dark splotches. These are ancient lava flows from a time early in the Moon’s history when it was volcanically active. The large crater that appears below the lava flows, dark in the center, is the Orientale basin, a nearly 600-mile-wide crater that straddles the Moon’s near and far sides, which are partly visible from Earth on the edge of the Moon. In this image, we have a full view of the crater. Everything below the crater is the far side, the hemisphere we don’t get to see from Earth because the Moon rotates on its axis at the same rate that it orbits around us.

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.

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.

The Artemis II crew captures a faint view of a crescent Earth above the horizon on the Moon’s far side.