NASA has released more than 12,000 new photos taken by the four-member crew of the Orion spacecraft during the historic Artemis II mission on a tour of the dark side of the Moon.
The photos were taken during a 10-day mission in April when the crew of the Artemis II mission completed a record-breaking circumnavigation of the Moon and return to Earth. The new images are now available through NASA’s public archive of photos taken by astronauts.
The photos were taken by NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen from inside the Orion capsule.
The crew of Artemis II brought back unique scenes of the Moon and Earth
The new collection shows the entire journey: from the first moments in the Earth’s orbit until passing behind the Moon and returning to Earth. Among the most interesting photos are scenes of the dark side of the Moon during a solar eclipse, as well as shots in which the Earth disappears behind the lunar horizon.
NASA states that certain photos of the interior of the Orion capsule have become extremely popular on the Internet because they clearly show how extreme and rarely seen the conditions were for the crew during the flight.
A large part of the new photos is focused precisely on the view from the capsule through the windows of the spacecraft, providing a perspective that very few people have seen throughout the history of mankind.
The Artemis II mission represents one of the most important stages of the modern American return to the Moon and a key preparation for the future landing of astronauts on the surface of the Moon through the Artemis program.
The release of the complete archive of over 12,000 photographs further demonstrates NASA’s focus on bringing space missions closer to the general public and documenting every detail of the historic flight.
Artemis II also represents the first manned flight around the moon since the Apollo program and one of the largest space missions in recent decades, reports Live Science.