THE first snap taken by the Artemis II crew from the mysterious far side of the Moon has been revealed.
Astronauts aboard the Orion capsule were able to capture a remarkable “Earthset” showing our planet disappearing into the distance.
White House shares stunning “Earthset”Credit: AFP
The pic was shared by the on , saying: “Humanity, from the other side. First photo from the far side of the . Captured from Orion as Earth dips beyond the lunar horizon.”
It comes more than 57 years after an iconic “Earthrise” image was captured by an Apollo 8 astronaut.
Four astronauts – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen – are currently heading home after their record-smashing trip around the Moon.
Although the quarter didn’t land on the lunar surface they did travel farther from than any other human in history.
They got a whopping 252,756 miles from Earth – Apollo 13 in 1970 travelled 248,655 miles from Earth.
The crew were also the first humans to see the far side of the Moon with the unaided eye.
They’re due to splash back down to Earth on Friday with a haul of photos and data from the far side, which we still know very little about.
hopes the Artemis programme will lead to a being built on the Moon, which will act as a springboard to exploring even further into our solar system.
The Artemis programme is a key part of Nasa’s plans to delve deeper into space, with hopes of establishing a permanent base on the lunar surface – and to fend off competition from China, which has its own grand ambitions.
Artemis III will be another crewed test flight in mid-2027, followed by Artemis IV in 2028 which could see boots returning to the lunar surface once again.
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Artemis II also achieve other major milestones, including Glover being the first person of colour and Koch being the first woman.
The huge mission follows nearly three years of training for the group, who are the first selection of astronauts to fly in Nasa’s Artemis program.
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