Astronauts of the Artemis-2 mission sent back a unique and stunning image of Earth during its journey to the Moon. NASA's Orion spacecraft is now on its way to a lunar flyby, about 219,000 kilometers from Earth. This mission is considered to be an important chapter in the exploration of the path between the Moon and the Earth for mankind.
Mission commander Reed Wiseman took the first 'Hello World' image, which shows blue waters, bright streaks of the atmosphere as sunlight is blocked, and greenish auroras at the two poles. The image captures the Earth somewhat upside down, with the Western Sahara Desert, the Iberian Peninsula and eastern South America visible. NASA has identified a bright planet in the image as Venus.
Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen said after the engine burn, the astronauts stood next to the window and took one photo after another. At this time, the dark side of the world, illuminated by the moonlight, has also been captured. However, due to some dirt on the window, the commander advised Mission Control to clean the window before taking the picture.
NASA also said that Artemis-2 is currently following a loop-shaped path, which will bring the astronauts around the far side of the moon and back to Earth. This is the first time since 1972 that a manned spacecraft has reached such a distance. The astronauts are scheduled to fly past the far side of the Moon on April 6 and return safely to Earth on April 10.
A comparison of the 1972 Apollo 17 mission has also been made with images released by NASA. In the message, they said that technology has progressed a lot in the last 54 years, but the spectacular beauty of the view of Earth from space is still unchanged.
