Artemis II’s Breathtaking View of the Far Side of the Moon

According to the space agency, the astronauts took turns photographing this region of the moon during the seven-hour approach, working in pairs. At their closest point to the surface, about 6,550 km, the moon looked to the naked eye like a ball held 40 centimeters from the face. The sharpness of the images was due to the professional photographic equipment they carried aboard.

The Artemis II crew with eclipse viewing glasses: Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen, Reid Wiseman, and Victor Glover (top right).

Photograph: NASA

After completing the flyby, Orion began its four-day journey back to Earth. If all goes according to plan, the capsule will enter the atmosphere on April 10 and splash down in the Pacific Ocean.

This story originally appeared on WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.