Artemis II crew capture new photo of far side of the moon

The crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission captured a new photo of the far side of the moon on Saturday, marking the first time humans have seen the Orientale basin in full. The image was released by NASA on Sunday and shows the moon oriented upside down, with its South Pole facing upward.

The four-person crew of the Orion spacecraft, including commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, will continue to study the basin as they approach the moon.

Artemis II, the first piloted moonshot since the Apollo program, aims to set the stage for future missions returning astronauts to the moon. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman highlighted the mission’s primary goal of collecting data observations and data.

On Sunday, Artemis II was about 64,000 miles from the moon and was preparing to enter the lunar sphere of influence. The crew will conduct space suit tests and other flight tests as they move towards the moon.

Later, NASA will hold a televised briefing about the mission from the Johnson Space Center. Early Monday, it was confirmed that Artemis II officially entered the lunar sphere of influence, with the moon’s gravity becoming the main force acting on the Orion spacecraft.

Miles Doran contributed to this report.

(Context: Artemis II is a crucial mission for NASA’s return to the moon as part of the Artemis program. Fact Check: The Artemis program aims to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024.)