10 Artemis II photos that define humanity's return to the moon

Since its historic April 1 launch from Kennedy Space Center, NASA's Artemis II mission around the moon has delivered a stream of extraordinary moments, from Earth fading into the distance to a rare solar eclipse seen from deep space.

After the crew returned safely to Earth on Friday (April 10), we've collected the most remarkable images from humanity's first journey to the moon since 1972.

1. Artemis II launch

The April 1 launch from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39B signaled the beginning of humanity's first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17. Powered by NASA's most powerful rocket, the Space Launch System, on only its second flight, Artemis II sent four astronauts on a 10-day, 695,000-mile (1.1 million kilometers) journey. The team's Orion crew capsule, nicknamed Integrity, sits at the top.

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2. Spaceship Earth

In a mission of firsts, NASA astronaut Christina Koch became the first woman to leave Earth's orbit and travel around the moon. Here she is on April 2, peering out one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows at the delicate blue sphere of Earth. As Artemis II traveled toward the moon, Earth's continents and clouds blurred into a single living world.

3. Earth's dark side

This image of Earth with the sun behind it was taken just after Orion's translunar injection burn on April 2, in which Orion sped out of Earth orbit and toward the moon. Earth became a glowing crescent suspended in darkness, with its night side sitting in shadow, almost entirely hidden from view.

4. Hello, world

Also captured just after Orion's boost toward the moon on April 2, this image contrasts sharply with later views. Here, a longer exposure reveals Earth's unlit side, but several other features make it unique. In addition to being the first image ever to feature auroras at both poles, it includes a crescent Earth, Venus (bottom right) and a smudge of zodiacal light (sunlight reflecting from dust in the solar system's asteroid belt).

5. The terminator

As Orion sped away from Earth on April 3, commander Reid Wiseman took this image of the terminator line, a sharp divide separating night from day on Earth — an everyday phenomenon transformed into a striking view from deep space.

6. A moment with the moon

Seen on April 6 just before lunar flyby observations began, a vast circular scar — the 600-mile-wide (1,000 km) Orientale basin — marks one of the moon's most dramatic impact features. This lava-filled relic of ancient volcanic activity was formed by a colossal impact billions of years ago.

7. Shadows at the edge of a lunar day

On April 6, the crew took this image of the terminator on the moon. It's where low sunlight skims the lunar surface, casting dramatic shadows that exaggerate craters, ridges and mountains — the perfect time to study the moon's rugged terrain. According to pilot Victor Glover, who monitored the terminator line through Orion's window, the craters in front of him were so dark, they looked like "you'd fall straight to the center of the moon if you stepped in some of those."

8. Total solar eclipse

Apollo astronauts saw total solar eclipses on their way to the moon, but the Artemis II crew was the first to witness one from the moon's far side. On April 6, totality lasted an extraordinary 54 minutes from Orion, during which the crew saw the sun's corona,stars and distant planets become visible nearby. It's a vantage point impossible on Earth.

9. Eclipse safety first

Even at the moon, safe solar viewing remains essential. Before and after totality, the four astronauts — Wiseman, Glover, Koch and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen — donned the same eclipse glasses distributed for the recent solar eclipses in North America.

10. Integrity comes home

At 8:07 p.m. EDT on Friday (Apr. 10), the Integrity capsule splashed safely into the Pacific Ocean after a nail-biting 13-minute descent through Earth's atmosphere. Soon after, a Navy recovery crew opened the capsule, welcoming its four record-setting passengers back to Earth after their historic mission to the moon.