Artemis II astronauts capture Earth's blue beauty in stunning photos released by NASA

World
By Fisayo Soyombo
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The Artemis II astronauts have captured our blue planet’s brilliant beauty as they zoom ever closer to the moon.

The space shuttle Orion took off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre on Merritt Island in Florida on Wednesday afternoon local time.

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NASA released the crew’s first downlinked images on Friday, a day and a half into the first astronaut moonshot in more than half a century.

The first photo taken by commander Reid Wiseman shows a curved slice of Earth in one of the capsule’s windows.

The second shows the entire globe with the oceans topped by swirling white tendrils of clouds.

A green aurora even glows, according to NASA.

A view of the Earth from NASA’s Orion spacecraft as it orbits above the planet during the Artemis II test flight.
A view of the Earth from NASA’s Orion spacecraft as it orbits above the planet during the Artemis II test flight. Credit: NASA
A downlink image of Earth taken by NASA’s Artemis II astronaut commander Reid Wiseman inside the Orion capsule. A downlink image of Earth taken by NASA’s Artemis II astronaut commander Reid Wiseman inside the Orion capsule.
A downlink image of Earth taken by NASA’s Artemis II astronaut commander Reid Wiseman inside the Orion capsule. Credit: NASA
A view of Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman from the Orion spacecraft’s window after completing the translunar injection burn.A view of Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman from the Orion spacecraft’s window after completing the translunar injection burn.
A view of Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman from the Orion spacecraft’s window after completing the translunar injection burn. Credit: NASA
The Artemis II crew, from left, Canadien astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, Commander Reid Wiseman, mission specialist Christina Koch and pilot Victor Glover as they appear on a video conference from the moon’s orbit.The Artemis II crew, from left, Canadien astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, Commander Reid Wiseman, mission specialist Christina Koch and pilot Victor Glover as they appear on a video conference from the moon’s orbit.
The Artemis II crew, from left, Canadien astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, Commander Reid Wiseman, mission specialist Christina Koch and pilot Victor Glover as they appear on a video conference from the moon’s orbit. Credit: NASA

Wiseman and his crew were 145,000km from Earth and quickly gaining on the moon with another 270,000km to go.

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They should reach their destination on Monday.

The crew of four will swing around the moon in their Orion capsule, hang a U-turn and then head straight back home without stopping.

They fired Orion’s main engine on Thursday night, US time, that set them on their course.

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Orion is carrying American astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Jeremy Hansen.

The moon is about 400,000km away from Earth, with the Artemis II mission surpassing that by about 6400km.

It will make Artemis astronauts the world’s most remote travellers, smashing the previous record set by Apollo 13 in 1970.

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