NASA's Artemis II crew completes historic far-side Moon flyby as Earth captures first distant photo

On April 6, 2026, NASA's Orion spacecraft carried four astronauts—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen—on the Artemis II mission, becoming the first humans in more than half a century to pass behind the Moon’s far side. The spacecraft flew within a few thousand miles of the lunar surface, lost radio contact with Earth for about 40 minutes, and recorded unprecedented images of terrain such as the Orientale basin. The crew used autonomous systems during the blackout, testing life‑support, navigation and re‑entry capabilities that are critical for future deep‑space missions, including planned lunar landings and eventual crewed trips to Mars.

An Earth‑based image captured by West Virginia’s Green Bank Telescope shows the Orion capsule circling the Moon from more than 200,000 miles away, potentially the longest‑distance photo of humans ever taken from the ground. The photo underscores the mission’s public‑engagement value and highlights the technical achievement of tracking a deep‑space spacecraft from Earth. Artemis II’s success reinforces NASA’s broader Artemis program, which involves international partners such as Canada, Europe and Japan, and aims to establish a sustainable human presence on and around the Moon.