NASA has shared a stunning image (above) taken by the crew of the Artemis II mission on their way to the moon. It shows a tiny Earth, mostly in darkness and surrounded by the inky darkness of space.
The photo was taken on the fourth day of the Artemis II mission, which will see four astronauts fly around the moon before returning to Earth. On Monday, the crew – Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch of NASA and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency – will orbit our nearest neighbor and set a new flight record in the process.
“One last look at Earth before we reach the moon,” NASA said in a post on X sharing the incredible photo.
“This view of Earth was taken from inside the Orion spacecraft on April 5, the fourth day of the Artemis II mission. The four astronauts will make their closest approach to the Moon tomorrow, April 6.”
Temptingly for the crew, the Orion spacecraft is expected to fly past the moon at a distance of about 4,070 miles, giving astronauts the best view of the cratered, rugged terrain in more than five decades.
But that’s not all. On Monday afternoon, just before 2 p.m. ET, the Artemis II crew will pass the greatest distance from Earth ever reached by humans, set by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970 when they flew 248,655 miles from our planet. Then, about five hours later, the Artemis II astronauts will reach their farthest point from Earth, 252,760 miles, and set a new record.
The 10-day mission, which launched April 1 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, has so far gone largely according to plan. However, one problem concerns the on-board toilet, which caused problems at times during the flight.
The latest problem was caused by what engineers believe is ice blocking a pipe that ejects astronauts’ urine into space. This means that, for now, crew members will have to use special bags to collect and store their liquid waste. Fortunately, the toilet still works for waste number 2, which is disposed of differently.
Artemis II marks the first manned flight of the Orion spacecraft and the second Orion flight overall. The mission’s goal is to test the spacecraft’s systems in preparation for more complex missions such as Artemis IV, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface after more than five decades of absence.
