ALT Earthset captured through the Orion spacecraft window during the Artemis II crew's flyby of the Moon. A muted blue Earth with bright white clouds sets behind the cratered lunar surface. The dark portion of Earth is in nighttime. Credit: NASA

ALT A crisp image of Earth illuminated against black space taken by an Artemis II crew member through the Orion spacecraft window. Credit: NASA

ALT A sliver of the edge of Earth glows blue against the vast darkness of space. Credit: NASA

ALT Earth as a thin arc glowing in the darkness of space. Sunlight traces the curves of the ocean and clouds, while the rest of the planet fades into shadow. Credit: NASA

ALT An Artemis II astronaut took this picture of Earth from the Orion spacecraft’s window after completing the translunar injection burn. There are two auroras (top right and bottom left) and zodiacal light (bottom right) is visible as the Earth eclipses the Sun. This and another photo of Earth are the first downlinked images from the Artemis II astronauts. Credit: NASA

ALT On flight day seven, following their lunar flyby, the Artemis II crew captured this view of a delicate crescent Moon on their journey back to Earth. Along the terminator—the boundary between lunar day and night—low-angle sunlight casts long shadows that accentuate craters, ridges, and subtle variations in terrain. The softly illuminated surface highlights the Moon’s rugged landscape, while much of it remains in shadow. Credit: NASA

ALT As the Artemis II crew flew over the terminator, the astronauts described this boundary between day and night as "anything but a straight line." Crater rims along the terminator stand out as "islands" in the night. Giant chains of craters emanating from the 3.7-billion-year-old Orientale basin can be seen scouring the surface, stretching almost to the terminator. This tells a geologic story: these crater chains produced by the Orientale impact event mar the surface of the relatively flat Hertzsprung Basin (center of this image), which means that Hertzsprung Basin must be even older than Orientale. Credit: NASA

ALT Just over half of the Moon fills the left half of the image. The near side, characterized by the dark patches of ancient lava, is visible on the top third of the lunar disk. Orientale basin, a round crater in the center with a black patch of ancient lava in the center, is wrapped in rings of mountains. The round black spot northeast of Orientale is Grimaldi crater, and Aristarchus crater is the bright white dot in the midst of a dark grey lava flow at the top of the image. Credit: NASA

ALT Artemis II Pilot Victor Glover (top) and Mission Specialist Christina Koch (center) return home to Houston, stepping off a plane at Ellington Airport near NASA's Johnson Space Center, on Saturday, April 11, 2026, following their 10-day mission around the Moon. They launched April 1, 2026, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and splashed down off the coast of California on Friday, April 10, 2026. Credit: NASA/DAVID DEHOYOS

ALT Artemis II Pilot Victor Glover returns home to Houston, stepping off a plane at Ellington Airport near NASA's Johnson Space Center, on Saturday, April 11, 2026, following his 10-day mission around the Moon. He and his three fellow crew members launched April 1, 2026, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and splashed down off the coast of California on Friday, April 10, 2026. Credit: NASA/DAVID DEHOYOS

ALT Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman returns home to Houston, stepping off a plane at Ellington Airport near NASA's Johnson Space Center, on Saturday, April 11, 2026, following his 10-day mission around the Moon. He and his three fellow crew members launched April 1, 2026, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and splashed down off the coast of California on Friday, April 10, 2026. Credit: NASA/ROBERT MARKOWITZ

ALT Artemis II Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen returns home to Houston, stepping off a plane at Ellington Airport near NASA's Johnson Space Center, on Saturday, April 11, 2026, following his 10-day mission around the Moon. He and his three fellow crew members launched April 1, 2026, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and splashed down off the coast of California on Friday, April 10, 2026. Credit: NASA/ROBERT MARKOWITZ

ALT The crew of Artemis II (from left: Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover) pose for a group photo after viewing the Orion spacecraft in the well deck of USS John P. Murtha in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls