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Artemis II Crew Captures Detailed Images of Moon's Far Side During Flyby
The Artemis II mission crew conducted a lunar flyby on April 6, 2024, capturing high-resolution images of the moon's far side using professional cameras and personal devices. The spacecraft approached within 4,067 to 7,000 kilometers of the surface, allowing observations of lunar terrain, a solar eclipse, and Earthrise.
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The Artemis II mission, launched on April 1, 2024, marked the first crewed flight to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. The crew of four—NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen—completed a flyby of the moon's far side on April 6.
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During the seven-hour approach, they documented lunar topography and observed solar activity.
The spacecraft passed between 6,000 and 7,000 kilometers from the lunar surface, with one source reporting a closest approach of 4,067 miles, or approximately 6,540 kilometers. Astronauts worked in pairs to photograph regions near the south pole, which remain in near-permanent shadow and may contain frozen water resources. These images will support updates to lunar maps for future missions.
primary goal is to verify NASA's ability to conduct a safe crewed lunar orbit.
The crew captured images of features including the Orientale basin, Vavilov crater, and the Hertzsprung basin, highlighting rugged terrain and ancient lava flows. Long shadows from the low-angle sunlight aided in assessing the landscape. The flyby included observations of a solar eclipse lasting 54 minutes from the crew's perspective, with the moon appearing larger than the sun and producing minimal coronal flare.
Venus was visible in some images. m. ET on April 6, the crew photographed Earth rising above the lunar horizon, oriented with north poles to the left.
“As we surpass the furthest distance humans have ever traveled from planet Earth, we do so in honoring the extraordinary efforts and feats of our predecessors in human space exploration.”
