​Artemis II mission: Nasa unveils stunning images of Earth and Moon captured during historic flyby — In pics​

NASA’s Orion spacecraft captures a striking view of the Moon and Earth together. Sunlight illuminates the spacecraft’s right side, while a waxing crescent Moon appears in the background. Nearby, a much smaller crescent Earth is seen descending toward the Moon’s horizon on the right. (Image credit: Nasa)

From the perspective of the astronauts during the flyby, this image shows the Moon fully eclipsing the Sun, creating 54 minutes of totality. Visible stars, planets and the glowing corona—the Sun’s outer atmosphere— highlight a rare deep-space perspective far beyond what is possible from Earth. (Image Credit: Nasa)

Artemis II pilot, Victor Glover, and mission specialist, Christina Koch, documented the lunar surface during the flyby, capturing images and observations to share with the world. The crew spent about seven hours taking turns at the Orion spacecraft’s windows as they passed around the Moon’s far side, coming as close as 6,545 km above its surface. (Image credit: Nasa)

A close-up of Vavilov Crater shows the transition from smooth inner terrain to a rugged rim on the edge of the larger Hertzsprung basin. Long shadows along the Moon’s terminator were captured with a handheld 400 mm lens. (Image Credit: Nasa)

Orion appears sunlit in the foreground with a waxing gibbous Moon behind it. The 965 km wide Orientale basin sits near the centre-bottom of the Moon, marking the boundary between the Moon’s near side with dark lava plains and its far side. (Image Credit: Nasa)

The view of the Moon’s South Pole-Aitken basin shows heavily cratered terrain along its eastern edge, with the day-night boundary casting shadows at the top of the image. The South Pole-Aitken basin is the largest and oldest basin on the Moon, revealing billions of years of lunar geologic history. (Image Credit: Nasa)

The Artemis II crew captured a series of images during their journey around the Moon, including this striking view of Earthset—the blue Earth appearing to set behind the Moon. The image reveals Earth’s dark night side alongside a cloud-covered daytime over Australia. In the foreground, the Moon’s craters and jagged peaks are clearly visible. (Image Credit: NASA)

The Moon’s terminator—the boundary between lunar day and night—comes alive under low-angle sunlight, casting long shadows that reveal the true shapes and depths of its craters. Since the earliest days of telescopic observation, this boundary has been invaluable to scientists in observing and mapping the Moon’s rugged terrain. (Image Credit: Nasa)