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Artemis II Shares 12,000+ Moon Trip Photos
6 May
Summary
- NASA released over 12,000 new photos from the Artemis II moon mission.
- The photos capture the 10-day journey around the moon and back.
- Future Artemis missions aim for lunar landings and a moon base.
NASA has released a treasure trove of over 12,000 new photographs captured during the recent Artemis II mission. These images document the astronauts' captivating 10-day journey, which began on April 1st with a launch from Florida and concluded with a water landing on April 10th off the coast of California. This mission marked humanity's first crewed venture near the moon in more than half a century.
The extensive collection of photos is now accessible through NASA's Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth website. The images span the entire duration of the flight, including the lunar flyby on April 6th when the crew came within approximately 4,067 miles of the lunar surface. This mission served as a crucial test flight to validate systems and hardware for upcoming crewed moon landings.
Looking ahead, NASA's Artemis program aims to return astronauts to the moon. The Artemis III mission is scheduled for 2027, targeting lunar orbit to dock with commercial landers, followed by Artemis IV in 2028, which plans for the first human steps on the moon since 1972. Ultimately, NASA intends to construct a moon base near the lunar south pole and prepare for deeper solar system exploration, including eventual missions to Mars.
