Four astronauts aboard NASA's Artemis II test flight have travelled further from our home planet than any human in history. At 1:56 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 6, the Orion spacecraft clocked a distance of 248,655 miles from Earth. That number eclipses the previous benchmark set by the crew of Apollo 13 back in 1970.
This is not a landing mission. It is a rigorous shakedown cruise designed to prove that the capsule can keep a crew safe and healthy far beyond the familiar glow of low Earth orbit. It is a vital stepping stone on the path to returning boots to the lunar surface.
It is a cruise with a view, and what a view it is.
Here are some breathtaking photos from the record breaking Artemis II space flight that has gotten the internet talking.
Date: April 7, 2026
After completing their lunar flyby, the Artemis II astronauts turned their camera away from the moon and toward the deeper cosmos. This photograph captures the Milky Way, our home galaxy, stretched across the blackness of space. Without Earth's atmosphere or any light pollution to interfere, the view is remarkably clear. Countless stars and faint clouds of cosmic dust are visible in extraordinary detail. The photo was shared on April 7, 2026, by NASA's official X account.
Date: April 6, 2026
Taken at 6:41 p.m. EDT, this photograph shows Earth slipping behind the moon. Our planet appears soft blue with bright white clouds. Half of the Earth is in darkness, experiencing night, while the sunlit side shows swirling weather patterns over Australia and the Pacific region.
In front of this distant view sits Ohm crater. Its walls are shaped like terraced steps, and its floor is mostly flat except for a cluster of central peaks. These peaks were formed long ago when a powerful impact melted the lunar rock and sent it splashing upward before it froze in place.
Date: April 6, 2026
This photograph looks along the terminator, the line that separates lunar day from lunar night. Sunlight strikes the surface at a very shallow angle here, throwing long shadows from every crater rim and ridge. The low light reveals just how rough and uneven the moon truly is.
Craters named Jule, Birkhoff, and Stebbins stand out, along with the surrounding highlands. These features would appear flat and washed out under a bright midday sun. The crew took this image about three hours into their observation period on the sixth day of the mission, while flying around the far side of the moon.
Date: April 6, 2026
Taken at 6:41 p.m. EDT as the crew rounded the far side of the moon, this photograph shows Earth setting just above the lunar horizon. Half of our planet is dark with night, while the sunlit half reveals swirling clouds over Australia and the Pacific region.
On the moon's surface below, the Orientale basin sits right at the edge of the visible disc. The older Hertzsprung Basin appears as two faint, circular rings, partly covered by the younger Vavilov crater, which sits on top of it. The dotted lines running across the landscape are chains of smaller craters, formed when rocky debris from the massive Orientale impact rained back down onto the surface.
Date: April 6, 2026
During the lunar flyby, the moon moved directly in front of the sun and blocked it out completely. The total eclipse lasted for nearly 54 minutes, a duration impossible to experience from Earth. The sun's corona appears as a soft, glowing ring around the black lunar disc, revealing details of the sun's outer atmosphere that are normally hidden by its fierce brightness.
With the moon in darkness, faint stars became visible in the background. The side of the moon facing the camera is also dimly lit by sunlight reflecting off the Earth. This rare perspective gave the crew an extended opportunity to observe and photograph the corona during humanity's return to deep space.
Date: April 6, 2026
This close-up view focuses on Vavilov Crater, which sits on the rim of the much older and larger Hertzsprung basin. The right side of the image shows a shift from smoother ground inside an inner ring of mountains to rougher, more broken terrain near the crater's edge.
Long shadows stretch across Vavilov and the surrounding debris field, thrown into sharp relief by the low sunlight along the terminator, the line between lunar day and night. The crew captured this photograph using a handheld camera with a 400 mm lens while flying around the far side of the moon.
Date: April 2, 2026
Commander Reid Wiseman took this photograph of Earth through Orion's window shortly after the spacecraft completed the engine burn that set it on course for the moon. Two auroras are visible, one glowing in the top right corner and another near the bottom left. A faint cone of zodiacal light appears in the bottom right, caused by sunlight scattering off dust particles in space. This image was among the very first pictures sent back to the ground by the Artemis II crew.
Date: April 7, 2026
The scene: The Artemis II crew paused on their journey home to take this group photograph inside the Orion spacecraft. From left to right are Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, Pilot Victor Glover, and Commander Reid Wiseman.
The picture was taken one day after the crew swung around the far side of the moon and left the region where lunar gravity is stronger than Earth's pull. The astronauts are now coasting back toward Earth and are expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean on April 10.
