NASA shares first photos of Earth taken by Artemis II: "Hello, World" [View all]

Source: CBS news

Updated on: April 3, 2026 / 10:30 AM EDT


NASA released the first photos of Earth taken by the crew of Artemis II on Friday, hours after the mission left Earth's orbit.

The first photo, taken by Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman, shows the entire planet, and both the Northern and Southern lights are visible over the poles. Zodiacal light, created by sunlight reflecting off dust in the solar system, is visible in the bottom right of the image.


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Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen told NASA's mission control spacecraft communicator that the Artemis II crew was "glued to the window" and "taking pictures" of the planet after breaking out of Earth orbit. In a live conversation with reporters late Thursday night, Wiseman described a moment similar to the one shown in the photograph.

"There was a moment, about an hour ago, where mission control Houston reoriented our spacecraft as the sun was setting behind the Earth…but you could see the entire globe from pole to pole, you could see Africa, Europe, and if you looked really close, you could see the Northern Lights, it was the most spectacular moment, and it paused all four of us in our tracks," Wiseman said at the time.

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The Artemis II is traveling on a trajectory that will carry the astronauts around the far side of the moon on Monday, then bring them back towards Earth. The astronauts aboard the spacecraft are expected to travel farther from Earth than anyone before them, reaching a distance of about 252,021 miles as they pass behind the moon.

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Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/artemis-ii-earth-photo-nasa-reid-wiseman/

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NASA @NASA
We see our home planet as a whole, lit up in spectacular blues and browns. A green aurora even lights up the atmosphere. That's us, together, watching as our astronauts make their journey to the Moon.

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NASA shares first photos of Earth taken by Artemis II: "Hello, World"
Updated on: April 3, 2026 / 10:30 AM EDT

www.cbsnews.com/news/artemis...

— (@oceancalm.bsky.social) 2026-04-03T17:05:14.568Z

NASA shared another image that showed a sliver of Earth through the Orion capsule window on X.

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