Posted by: NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration
A crescent Earthrise over the Moon 🌕
NASA’s Orion Spacecraft took this photo on Dec. 5, 2022, the 20th day of our Artemis I mission, as Orion finished the rocket burn that would bring it back to Earth. Artemis I lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 16, beginning its 25.5-day, 1.3-million-mile (2.1-million-km) journey around the Moon.
Though Artemis I is an uncrewed mission, what we’ve learned from our flight test of Orion and NASA’s Space Launch System will help us get ready for future Artemis missions, which will build a long-term human presence on the Moon—and prepare us to land the first NASA Astronauts on Mars.
Check out more photos from the Artemis I mission: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAfKs1
Learn more about Artemis I: https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-i/
Image description: A photo of the Moon as seen from lunar orbit. Though much of the Moon’s surface is shrouded in darkness, a thick, gray crescent near the top-right horizon is bathed in light; its craters and plains stand out in brilliant detail. Slightly to the right of the Moon, the Earth can be seen as a smaller, distant crescent lit up in white; lens flares and streaks of light can be faintly seen on the far-right side of the image. The Orion spacecraft takes up much of the photo’s left half; from this perspective, the European Service Module and the bottom of the Orion crew module appear as two white cylinders of varying diameters.
Credit: NASA