NASA has released new photos from the “Artemis II” mission — an eclipse, "Earthset", and the far side of the Moon.
NASA writes about this.
A crew of four astronauts — Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen — conducted a seven-hour flight around the Moon and took pictures of its far side.
The first photo shows the solar eclipse that astronauts saw when the Moon blocked the Sun from them. It lasted 53 minutes. In order to safely observe it, the astronauts wore goggles.
The astronauts also reported six flashes of light — likely from meteorites falling onto the surface of the moon.
The second image is a shot of Earth setting during a lunar flyby. This image is reminiscent of the famous "Earthrise" photograph taken by astronaut Bill Anders 58 years ago during the Apollo 8 lunar flyby.
The third photo shows the far side of the Moon, showing the Orientale Basin, a crater about 965 km wide.
Nearby are two smaller craters that the Artemis II crew proposed naming Integrity and Carol, the latter in honor of the wife of astronaut Reed Wiseman, who died of cancer in 2020.
The Orion spacecraft passed behind the Moon, temporarily losing contact with Earth. At this point, the crew approached the surface of the satellite at a distance of about 6.5 thousand km.
Artemis II mission
On the night of April 2, the American space agency NASA launched a manned mission to the Moon, Artemis II. Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard the Space Launch System, the most powerful rocket in the agencyʼs history. The missionʼs goal is to test the rocket and spacecraft systems in preparation for a new lunar landing.
On April 3, four astronauts on NASAʼs Artemis II mission left Earthʼs orbit and began their journey to the Moon. This is the first time humans have left Earthʼs orbit since 1972. On April 6, the astronauts entered the Moonʼs gravitational field. This means that the spacecraft is more strongly influenced by the moonʼs gravity than by Earthʼs.
The Artemis II mission will last eight days and will conclude with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, where the crew will be met by rescue teams.
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