NASA has released stunning high-resolution images of Earth taken by the Orion spacecraft during the ongoing Artemis II mission. These photos, taken by the crew through the capsule windows, were shared via NASA’s official social media channels on April 3, 2026. These images offer a breathtaking view of our planet from deep space, as astronauts continue their journey toward the Moon.
In one photo, the Earth appears as a perfect sphere, glowing with bright blue and brown colors. Along with this, a brilliant green aurora is also shining in the atmosphere near the northern horizon. In another frame, Earth is partially visible through Orion’s window, with the spacecraft’s features emerging amid the darkness of space. NASA captioned the post: “Good morning, world! Here are some spectacular new high-resolution photos of our home planet… We are looking at our home planet in full view, glowing in brilliant blues and browns. There is also a green aurora glowing in the atmosphere. This is all of us, together, watching our astronauts make their journey toward the moon.”
Artemis II, scheduled to launch on April 1, 2026, aboard NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket from Kennedy Space Center, is the first manned mission of the Artemis program. The crew of four — Commander Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch (NASA), and Jeremy Hansen (CSA) — is on a 10-day test flight. This flight involves a lunar flyby, but not a landing on the Moon. The mission is based on the unmanned Artemis I (2022) mission and serves as an important rehearsal for future manned landings on the Moon. Its goal is to ensure the permanent presence of humans on the Moon.
These early photos, which were taken shortly after the ‘translunar injection burn’, not only capture the beauty of Earth, but also provide important data for scientists who are studying atmospheric phenomena, including auroras. The release of these pictures has caused tremendous excitement in the online world. Many viewers have described these scenes as a powerful reminder of the fragility of the Earth and the shared home of all humanity.
NASA plans to release more photos and live updates as the crew gets closer to the moon (around April 6) and completes a ‘figure-eight’ trajectory before returning to Earth. Fact Check Summary: The original article is largely correct. NASA released the first high-resolution images of Earth taken by the Orion mission on April 2-3, 2026, showing bright blue/brown and green auroras. The captions of these photos almost match the official post. The mission was successfully launched on April 1, 2026 and is a 10-day manned lunar transit (not a Moon landing). One small thing: These photos were taken during high Earth orbit and early translunar phase, not from “deep space” near the Moon, although the mission is moving in that direction. There is no major error.
Comments are closed.