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The Artemis II crew captured an incredible image of an “Earthset”—the moment when our planet dips below the Moon’s horizon—during their return journey after completing a groundbreaking lunar flyby. NASA shared this photo on April 7, depicting Earth descending behind the rugged edge of the Moon, a deliberate nod to the famous “Earthrise” shot taken by Apollo 8 astronauts in 1968. That historic photo, captured by astronaut Bill Anders, sparked worldwide imagination as humans orbited the Moon for the first time.
This modern version showcases Earth’s fragile beauty alongside the Moon’s stark, rugged surface, separated by the vastness of space. The crew—US astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover, along with Canadian Jeremy Hansen—are on a historic mission to orbit the Moon as part of a broader effort to pave the way for a human moon landing in 2028.
After their lunar flyby—setting a record for the furthest distance from Earth—they headed home, with plans to splash down in the Pacific near California late Friday. The crew described seeing features of the lunar surface in vivid detail and witnessed a solar eclipse during the mission, when the Moon passed over the Sun. They also observed flashes of light—meteor strikes hitting the lunar surface—that they found difficult to put into words. Victor Glover reflected, “Humans probably haven’t evolved to see what we’re witnessing. It’s truly hard to describe. It’s incredible.”
Late Monday, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and President Donald Trump called to congratulate the team. Trump, at 79, recalled the Apollo program and praised the astronauts as “modern-day pioneers” with immense bravery. During the call, Trump asked about their favorite moments and what it was like to lose communication with Earth for about 40 minutes during a planned blackout. Interestingly, Trump himself experienced a brief communication glitch while talking to the crew—commenting, “Might have gotten cut off. It’s a long distance.”
Breaking the distance record set by Apollo 13 in 1970, the Artemis II team exceeded that mark by more than 6,000 kilometers on their journey’s furthest point from Earth. Hansen expressed hope that “this record won’t stand for long,” encouraging the next generation to push boundaries further. Glover made history as the first person of color to orbit the Moon, Koch as the first woman, and Hansen as the first non-American to do so.
The crew will now head back to Earth in a free-return trajectory, safely re-entering the atmosphere before landing in the ocean. Before leaving lunar orbit, they proposed naming two previously unnamed Moon craters—one after their spacecraft, “Integrity,” and another, “Carroll,” to honor the late wife of mission commander Wiseman, who passed away from cancer. Hansen described the second crater as “a bright spot on the Moon” and shared his emotional wish to name it after her. NASA plans to submit these proposed names to the International Astronomical Union for official recognition.
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