Artemis II Crew Captures Historic Pic Of Earth From Dark Side Of Moon

The Artemis II crew on Monday (Apr 6) aboard the Orion spacecraft captured a stunning, historic image of Earth setting behind the lunar horizon from the far side of the Moon. Titled "Earthset," the photograph shows a pale blue Earth, with bright white clouds, dipping behind the rugged, cratered lunar surface. The image contrasts the dark side of Earth with the vibrant daytime, where swirling clouds are visible above Australia and Oceania.

The foreground features the Ohm crater with its terraced edges and a flat floor "interrupted by central peaks". As per NASA, the central peaks form in complex craters when the lunar surface, liquefied on impact, splashes upwards during the crater formation.

"The Artemis II crew captured this view of an Earthset on April 6, 2026, as they flew around the Moon. The image is reminiscent of the iconic Earthrise image taken by astronaut Bill Anders 58 years earlier as the Apollo 8 crew flew around the Moon," NASA captioned the pic.

The White House quoted the image, calling it 'humanity from the other side' whilst sharing another new photo that shows a solar eclipse from space. The eclipse occurred Monday evening, toward the end of the mission's hours-long lunar flyby, when the sun slipped behind the moon.

Check The Viral Pics Here:

Earthset.

The Artemis II crew captured this view of an Earthset on April 6, 2026, as they flew around the Moon. The image is reminiscent of the iconic Earthrise image taken by astronaut Bill Anders 58 years earlier as the Apollo 8 crew flew around the Moon. pic.twitter.com/ag72r97wzb

— NASA Artemis (@NASAArtemis) April 7, 2026

THE ARTEMIS II ECLIPSE.
April 6, 2026.

Totality, beyond Earth. From lunar orbit, the Moon eclipses the Sun, revealing a view few in human history have ever witnessed. Photo: NASA pic.twitter.com/2cLJD3oL7p

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 7, 2026

Artemis II Mission

Artemis II is NASA's first crewed lunar flyby in over 50 years, acting as a crucial test flight for the Artemis programme to enable a lunar landing by 2028. The crewed mission will evaluate the SLS rocket and Orion capsule, paving the way for sustained human lunar exploration and future Mars missions

Led by Mission Commander Reid Wiseman, the Artemis II crew includes NASA's Victor Glover and Christina Koch alongside Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency. The four-member crew spent around seven hours taking photographs and gathering notes about surface features on the moon during the historic flyby on Monday.