Artemis II crew take 'spectacular' image of Earth

What’s Happening

So get this: The snap was taken aboard the Orion capsule by its commander, Reid Wiseman, as the crew head towards the Moon.

Artemis II crew take spectacular image of Earth 9 minutes ago Save Add as preferred on Google Sofia Ferreira Santos Nasa/Reid Wiseman The image, titled Hello, World, shows the Earth and Venus as seen from the Orion capsule Nasa has d the first high-resolution images of the Earth taken II crew as they head on their trip around the Moon. The missions commander, Reid Wiseman, took the “spectacular” images, Nasa says, after the crew completed a final engine burn that set them on a trajectory towards our closest celestial neighbour. (yes, really)

The first image, called Hello, World, shows the vast expanse of blue that is the Atlantic Ocean, framed by a thin glow of the atmosphere as the Earth eclipses the Sun and green auroras at either pole.

The Details

The Earth appears to us as upside down, with the western Sahara and Iberian peninsula visible to the left and the eastern portion of South America to the right. Nasa identified the bright planet to the bottom right as Venus.

Nasa/Reid Wiseman Wiseman also took this picture, titled Artemis II Looking Back at Earth, from one of the Orion spacecrafts four main windows The images were taken after the crew successfully completed a trans-lunar injection burn in the early hours of Friday. The burn took the Orion spacecraft out of Earth orbit as the four astronauts aboard aim to travel the more than 200,000 miles to the Moon.

Why This Matters

Artemis II is now on a looping path that will carry the crew around the far side of the Moon and back again. It is the first time since 1972 that humans have travelled outside of the Earths orbit. The crew should pass around the far side of the Moon on 6 April and return to Earth on 10 April.

Global events like this tend to have ripple effects worldwide.

The Bottom Line

The crew should pass around the far side of the Moon on 6 April and return to Earth on 10 April. NASA Another image taken shows the divide between night and day, known as the terminator, cutting across Earth After the burn was completed, the crew were “glued to the windows” taking pictures, mission specialist Jeremy Hansen told mission control in Houston.

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