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"Artemis 2" on its way back

These are the best pictures from the moon mission

  • The Artemis 2 mission took astronauts Wiseman, Glover, Koch and Hansen on board their Orion spacecraft on a ten-day journey around the moon and back. The quartet took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 1 at 6:35 p.m. local time.
  • A three-minute exposure of the Space Launch System rocket.
  • Enthusiastic onlookers watched the launch of the rocket and the Orion spacecraft at the Banana Creek viewing point.
  • On the screens in the flight control room of the International Space Station at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, members of the crews of the International Space Station Expedition 74 (left) and Artemis II (right) can be seen simultaneously. The two crews had a 15-minute spaceship-to-spaceship conversation on April 7, 2026, while the Artemis II crew was on its way back from the moon.
  • Commander Reid Wiseman looks back at Earth from one of the Orion capsule's main windows as the spacecraft is on its way to the moon.
  • Astronaut Christina Koch is seen here in the Orion spacecraft during Artemis II's flyby of the moon. Koch and her crewmates spent about seven hours taking turns collecting scientific data at Orion's windows to relay to their team on Earth. At the next point, they approached the lunar surface to within 6540 kilometers.
  • During a flyby observation of the moon, the crew of Artemis II captured the craters that dot the lunar surface, providing a glimpse of its rugged, ancient surface. This scarred landscape bears witness to a long history of cosmic collisions.
  • The lunar surface in sharp detail as the distant Earth sets in the background. This image was taken shortly before the Orion and its crew plunged behind the moon and lost contact with Earth for 40 minutes before emerging on the other side.
  • The spacecraft "Orion" can be seen in the foreground, illuminated by the sun. A waxing moon can be seen in the background. The Orientale Basin, an impact crater about 1000 kilometers wide and surrounded by mountains, can be seen in the lower half of the moon.
  • The crew of Artemis II inside the Orion spacecraft. After a flyby of the far side of the moon on April 6, 2026, the crew left the moon's sphere of influence (the point at which the moon's gravitational pull is stronger on Orion than Earth's) on April 7 and is now on its way back to Earth, where a water landing in the Pacific Ocean is planned for April 11 (Swiss time).

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The Artemis 2 mission took astronauts Wiseman, Glover, Koch and Hansen on board their Orion spacecraft on a ten-day journey around the moon and back. The quartet took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 1 at 6:35 p.m. local time.

Image: (Nasa/Joel Kowsky)

No time? blue News summarizes for you

  • Nasa's Artemis 2 mission is coming to an end.
  • The four astronauts have traveled further away from Earth than ever before.
  • Early Saturday morning Swiss time, the crew is due to touch down in a capsule in the Pacific Ocean.
Summary created withmyAi

After becoming the first humans to fly around the moon in more than 50 years, the four "Artemis 2" astronauts now face the last major challenge of their mission with their return to Earth.

Last week, the crew lifted off from the Cape Canaveral spaceport in the US state of Florida aboard the Orion capsule with the Space Launch System rocket and then flew around the moon. In the process, they also traveled further away from Earth than humans had ever been before.

You can see the best pictures of the historic mission in our picture gallery.

Difficult return

"Since April 3, 2023, when we were selected for this mission, I've been thinking about the return," said US astronaut Victor Glover at a media conference from the Orion capsule. It was like "riding a fireball through the atmosphere".

Teaser image

Artemis 2 has been launched

People want to go to the moon again - why?

In a complicated maneuver, the crew - consisting of US astronauts Christina Koch and Reid Wiseman as well as Canadian Jeremy Hansen alongside Glover - is due to touch down in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego at around 2.07 a.m. Swiss time next night. At times, their capsule is expected to reach speeds of up to around 38,400 kilometers per hour, which will put the astronauts under extreme physical strain.

"Orion" will be exposed to extreme heat on re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, and the astronauts will be protected by a special heat shield. As planned, communication with the control center will be lost for around six minutes. With the help of parachutes, the capsule will then be slowed down and land in the Pacific Ocean. According to NASA, the latest weather forecasts and the last exterior images of "Orion" look good.

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With material from dpa.

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The "Artemis 2" astronauts have flown around the moon, set records and seen things never seen before. These are the best pictures.

These are the best pictures from the moon mission