Artemis II Crew Captures First Human-Taken Lunar Photos in Over 50 Years
Four astronauts aboard NASA's Orion spacecraft photographed the Moon's near side, far side, and the 600-mile Orientale basin during a historic flyby on April 6 -- the first crewed lunar images since Apollo 17 in 1972.
On April 6, 2026, four astronauts flew around the Moon. They are the first humans to see it up close since Apollo 17 in December 1972 -- a gap of 54 years.
The crew spent seven hours in lunar proximity, photographing terrain that no human eye has ever directly observed. They carried a Nikon D5 with an 80-400mm zoom lens -- the first modern digital camera to shoot the lunar surface from crewed orbit.
The Orientale Basin
The mission's prime scientific target was the Orientale basin, a nearly 600-mile-wide impact crater that straddles the Moon's near and far sides. Until April 6, only robotic spacecraft had ever imaged it.
The Moon's near side, photographed from Orion on April 4, 2026. Dark patches are ancient lava flows (maria) unique to this hemisphere. The black mark on the far left edge is the Orientale basin -- 600 miles wide, straddling both sides of the Moon. NASA.
The crew captured centered images of the entire basin in a single frame and used zoom lenses to build a broader mosaic of the surrounding terrain. These will be the highest-resolution human-taken images of this region ever produced.
The Crew
Four people are aboard Orion:
- Reid Wiseman -- Commander (NASA). His third spaceflight.
- Victor Glover -- Pilot (NASA). Previously flew on SpaceX Crew-1 to the ISS.
- Christina Koch -- Mission Specialist (NASA). Holds the record for longest single spaceflight by a woman (328 days on ISS).
- Jeremy Hansen -- Mission Specialist (Canadian Space Agency). First Canadian to travel beyond low Earth orbit.
Commander Reid Wiseman looks out one of Orion's cabin windows at the Moon ahead of the flyby on April 6. NASA.
Looking Back at Earth
As the crew traveled deeper into space, Earth shrank to a thin crescent -- a perspective only 27 humans have ever witnessed.
An illuminated sliver of Earth seen through Orion's window on April 3, during the crew's third day en route to the Moon. NASA.
Mission Specialist Christina Koch peers through a cabin window toward Earth as Orion travels toward the Moon, April 4. NASA.
Mission Timeline
| Date | Flight Day | Event |
|---|---|---|
| April 1 | Day 1 | Launch from Kennedy Space Center, Florida |
| April 3 | Day 3 | First crew photos of Moon and Earth; Orion selfie via solar array camera |
| April 4 | Day 4 | Near side of Moon photographed; South Pole and Orientale basin visible |
| April 5 | Day 5 | Entered lunar sphere of influence |
| April 6 | Day 6 | Lunar flyby -- seven hours in proximity; far side and Orientale basin imaged |
54 Years
The last humans to see the Moon from this distance were Eugene Cernan, Harrison Schmitt, and Ronald Evans aboard Apollo 17 on December 19, 1972. They shot the lunar surface on Hasselblad film cameras with fixed lenses.
The Artemis II crew's Nikon D5 sensor and 80-400mm zoom produce images at resolutions the Apollo program could not have achieved. Full-resolution mosaics of the Orientale basin and far side terrain are expected in the coming weeks as mission data is downlinked and processed.
Artemis III, which will land astronauts on the lunar surface for the first time since 1972, is targeted for 2027.
Source: NASA Journey to the Moon Gallery and NASA Image and Video Library.