Artemis II Crew Sees Earth Vanish Behind the Moon

Four astronauts aboard NASA's Artemis II mission just experienced a view so overwhelming that Commander Reid Wiseman said "human minds shouldn't have to go through" what they witnessed.

As their Orion spacecraft flew 4,070 miles above the lunar surface on April 6, the crew watched Earth slowly disappear behind the moon's rugged edge. Australia and Oceania glowed in sunlight on the crescent before everything vanished, beginning a 31-minute communications blackout with Mission Control.

"I'm actually getting chills right now," Wiseman said during a live news conference two days later, his palms sweating just remembering the moment. "It is amazing to watch your home planet disappear behind the moon."

The four astronauts took time to process what they'd seen. They shared maple cookies brought by Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen and spent three or four minutes reflecting together before returning to their science tasks.

This marks the first crewed mission around the moon since 1972, bringing Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen into an exclusive club. Their journey represents humanity's intentional return to lunar exploration after more than half a century away.

Why This Inspires

The crew's Earthset photo recalls the famous Earthrise image captured during Apollo 8 in 1968. That photograph showed Earth as a fragile blue marble in the darkness of space and helped spark the modern environmental movement.

But this new image means something different. The original Earthrise was unexpected and improvised, announcing humanity's first arrival at the moon. This Earthset was planned and purposeful, signaling our return with renewed commitment.

"There's a lot that our brains have to process," Wiseman added. "It is a true gift."

The mission successfully completed its lunar flyby and the crew later captured their own Earthrise photograph. But that initial Earthset, watching home fade from view, created a moment of profound connection among four people representing the future of space exploration.

After decades away, humans are looking at the moon from the moon again, and their wonder reminds us why we reach for the stars in the first place.