Artemis II’s astronauts ended their mission’s lunar flyaround and, a day later, NASA shared new photos taken by the U.S.-Canadian crew from space. The images include “Earthset,” which shows Earth setting behind the gray, pockmarked moon, echoing how Apollo 8’s crew famously photographed the view from lunar orbit in 1968. Another photo captures a total solar eclipse as the moon blocked the sun from the astronauts’ perspective.
NASA released the pictures as the four astronauts moved toward the return trip, with the crew described as now headed home after channeling a familiar Apollo moment through a new framing. NASA’s Mission Control team in Houston also began reviewing the stream of moon photos beaming down from the mission, part of the ongoing work that follows a lunar flyby.
The “Earthset” image is presented as a direct visual callback to Apollo 8’s “Earthrise” photograph. Apollo 8’s three astronauts became the world’s first lunar visitors when they orbited the moon on Christmas Eve in 1968, and their Earthrise image later became a widely recognized symbol of the modern environmental movement.
In addition to the Earth-setting view, NASA said the Artemis II cameras captured a second standout scene: a total solar eclipse seen from the crew’s vantage point as the moon blocked the sun. The release of these specific photographs tied the Artemis II crew’s on-mission observations to the Apollo 8 legacy while also adding new imagery from a different moment in the Artemis return timeline.
Artemis II’s flight is also positioned by NASA as the next critical step toward a crewed lunar landing by another mission in two years. The current voyage, which carried astronauts back to the moon after a long gap, has been described as the first astronaut return to the moon in this era even as the crew’s immediate focus remains on bringing the spacecraft home safely.
Friday is set as the splashdown date in the Pacific, according to the mission’s planned timeline referenced alongside the photo release.