The Artemis 2 mission is now on its way to the Moon, leaving our little blue home planet in its wake. From Orion’s windows, the astronauts have been snapping stunning photos of Earth—and they’ve now beamed some of those images back to mission control.
The vast majority of humanity will never see Earth from this perspective with the naked eye. The Artemis 2 astronauts are the first people to view our fully illuminated planet from deep space in more than 50 years. Their photos conjure a wave of emotions, from wonder to insignificance.
Here’s a look at the images NASA has received so far, with more soon to come.
A view of Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis 2 commander Reid Wiseman from one of the Orion spacecraft’s four main windows after completing the translunar injection burn on April 2, 2026 © NASA
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft launched from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 6:35 p.m. ET on Wednesday, carrying a crew of four astronauts to low-Earth orbit. At 7:57 p.m. ET, the Orion completed a translunar injection burn, making it the first crewed spacecraft to depart low-Earth orbit since the Apollo era. The spacecraft is now on its way to the Moon and scheduled to arrive on Monday.
A view of Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis 2 commander Reid Wiseman from one of the Orion spacecraft’s four windows on April 2, 2026. This image captures the terminator line which divides the daylight side of Earth from the dark side © NASA
A view of a backlit Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis 2 Commander Reid Wiseman from one of the Orion spacecraft’s window on April 2, 2026 © NASA
This historic 10-day mission will send the Orion spacecraft around the far side of the Moon for a full day of lunar observations before it begins the journey home. There will be plenty more incredible images of Earth and our closest celestial neighbor to come, so watch this space.
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