Stunning photos from Artemis II landed in public view Tuesday, and they’re the kind you almost forget are real—Earth curving behind the Moon, then the Sun getting neatly swallowed in a way you just can’t see from the ground.
One image captured what NASA described as “Earthset,” when the Earth dips behind the lunar horizon. Part of the planet is plunged into darkness, while Australia and Oceania remain visible across the surface. In the foreground, the Moon’s details sharpen the scene, like the spacecraft window is framing something you shouldn’t be able to witness at all. The White House said of the image, “Humanity, from the other side.”
That “Earthset” shot was taken through the Orion spacecraft window at 6:41 p.m. ET on April 6, 2026, during the Artemis II crew’s flyby of the Moon. The crew was, in effect, peering at the lunar far side—something no crewed mission has done with the unaided eye before—and they traveled farther from Earth than any other humans in history. It’s a weird combination of old and new: a centuries-old sky event, suddenly rendered from a viewpoint that feels almost impossible.
Another photo released shows the Moon eclipsing the Sun. This eclipse wasn’t visible from Earth, only from aboard the spacecraft. The astronauts had to wear eclipse glasses to protect their eyes until the Moon fully covered the Sun. NASA said the view from the crew’s perspective was striking—nearly 54 minutes of totality—and that it stretched beyond what’s possible from Earth.
Astronaut Victor Glover described it with the kind of detail that makes you pause mid-scroll. He said the Sun’s corona stayed visible and bright during the eclipse, forming “a halo almost around the entire moon.” He also said the photos don’t really capture the experience. “It just looks unreal. You can see the surface of the moon against the Earthshine. … You can actually see a majority of the moon. It is the strangest looking thing that you can see so much on the surface,” he said on Monday evening.
He added that he was “really glad” the mission launched in time for the event, which lasted about an hour. “Because humans probably have not evolved to see what we’re seeing,” he said. “It is truly hard to describe. It is amazing.” Another image shared Tuesday morning takes a different angle: ridged craters and long shadows stretching across the lunar surface as parts of the Moon come into view along the boundary between lunar day and night. Low-angle sunlight there makes the terrain look rugged and dramatic, emphasizing topography, craters, and ridges.
Now the Artemis II crew is headed back toward Earth. They are expected to splash down off the California coast near San Diego on Friday evening. Somewhere between the countdown and the landing planning, the images may do the rest—linger longer than the mission timeline, with the quiet feeling you get when you first realize a daylit world can vanish behind another world, right in front of your eyes—except this time, you’re on the outside looking in.
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