Artemis II Crew Shares Stunning Earth Photos From Deep Space

The Artemis II crew is making history 100,000 miles from home, and they're sharing photos that will take your breath away.

Commander Reid Wiseman captured Earth through the Orion spacecraft's window on Friday, showing our planet wrapped in sweeping clouds and glowing with a green aurora. The four astronauts, including three Americans and one Canadian, are currently speeding toward the moon on a 10-day mission that marks humanity's return to deep space after half a century.

Christina Koch, the first woman to journey around the moon, described the moment she first saw Earth from this distance. "There's nothing that prepares you for the breathtaking aspect of seeing your home planet both lit up bright as day and also the moon glow on it at night," she told ABC News from the capsule.

The crew is now on day three of their mission, with a Monday lunar flyby planned. They'll come within 4,000 to 6,000 miles of the moon's surface before looping around its far side and heading back to Earth.

Victor Glover, the first Black astronaut to travel beyond low-Earth orbit, had a powerful message about what Earth looks like from deep space. "From up here, you look like one thing," he said. "Homo sapiens is all of us, no matter where you're from or what you look like. We're all one people."

Why This Inspires

This mission isn't just about technical achievement. It's about perspective. When you're 100,000 miles from home, borders disappear, and humanity looks unified.

Glover captured it perfectly when he talked about why we call ambitious goals "moonshots." This mission brought people together and showed what's possible when we combine our strengths to accomplish something great.

The crew will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego on April 11, bringing home not just data and images, but a reminder of our shared home. After 50 years of staying closer to Earth, we're finally venturing back into deep space, and the astronauts want us to know: from out there, we all look beautiful.