‘The best camera to ever exist’: Artemis II crew to study the Moon's surface mainly with their eyes

Nasa’s Artemis II astronauts, on a historic journey to the Moon, will study its surface with what lead scientist Kelsey Young calls “the best camera that could ever or will ever exist”—their own eyes. As of early Sunday, the four-member crew, comprising three Americans, commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch—and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, have crossed the “two thirds” mark of their voyage aboard the Orion spacecraft. They are expected to reach the Moon on Monday and conduct a fly-around, capturing images of the lunar far side during the mission. “The human eye is basically the best camera that could ever or will ever exist,” Kelsey Young, lead scientist for Artemis II told AFP. “The number of receptors in the human eye far outweighs what a camera is able to do.”Despite advances in imaging technology, Young noted that human vision excels at detecting colour, context, and subtle changes in lighting that reveal textures on the lunar surface. “Humans can understand how lighting changes surface details, like how angled lighting reveals texture but reduces visible colour,” she added.The crew has undergone more than two years of rigorous training to become “field scientists,” including geological expeditions to Iceland and Canada, simulated lunar flybys, and memorising the Moon’s “Big 15” landmarks. Using an inflatable Moon globe, astronauts practised observing how sunlight alters surface colours and textures, refining their skills for detailed note-taking.Noah Petro, head of Nasa’s planetary geology lab, said the Moon will appear “about the size of a basketball held at arm's length” to the astronauts. “The question I’m most interested in is, are they going to be able to see colour on the lunar surface,” he said, referring to subtle browns and tans that indicate composition and history.David Kring of the Lunar and Planetary Institute tempered expectations for major discoveries, but emphasised the historic nature of the observations. “Having astronauts describing what they’re seeing… that is an occurrence that at least two generations of people on Earth have never heard before,” he said.Artemis II was launched from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39B atop NASA’s Space Launch System rocket on April 1. The mission, the first crewed Moon journey in more than 53 years, advances Nasa’s Artemis programme, which aims for sustainable lunar exploration and eventual human missions to Mars.