|
The first images from Artemis II reveal what the moon looks like just 7,000 km from the surface—and confirm that NASA is ready to return to Earth's satellite.
|
|
When NASA allowed Artemis II astronauts to take their smartphones with them, we already knew it could lead to some epic phone shots of the moon. NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman took one such photo on his iPhone, just as the Orion spacecraft his crew was on approached the moon for a lunar flyby. The astronauts turned off all the lights inside the cabin to be able to take better pictures. In the livestream, Wiseman showed the camera a photo he took on his iPhone 17 Pro.
As 9to5Mac notes, he said on the livestream that he took the picture on his iPhone camera with an 8x zoom. NASA reportedly said that the image showed the Chebyshev crater, a lunar impact sight located on the far side of the moon, or the side we don't see from our planet. Artemis II launched on April 1 for a 10-day journey, with four astronauts onboard the mission's Orion spacecraft. On April 6, it flew farther away from Earth than any
|
|
NASA's Artemis II crew just set a new distance record in miles traveled away from Earth. The team of four astronauts are in the process of circling the Moon, reaching 5,000 miles beyond the natural satellite. That brings the total distance traveled away from our home to over 250,000 miles. Gene Roddenberry would be proud.
This broke the previous 1970 record set by Apollo 13's crew by around 4,000 miles. The four astronauts - Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch of NASA and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency - are the first humans to cross the lunar threshold since 1972's Apollo 17 mission.
"We challenge this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long-lived," Commander Reid Wiseman said upon crossing the distance threshold. He also suggested that NASA name a lunar crater after the craft itself.
The astronauts aren't landing on the lunar surface, but are conducting a lengthy flyby that should provide clear images of the Moon's far side "that have never been seen" by humans. These areas were too difficult to clearly see by the various Apollo crew members. They'll also get a peek at a solar eclipse, though the crew will be out of contact with mission control for around 40 minutes.
"We'll get eyes on the moon, kind of map it out and then continue to go back in force," NASA flight director, Judd Frieling, said. Astronaut Christina Koch
|
|
