The crew members aboard the Artemis II Orion spacecraft have reported their first-ever sighting of the Moon’s enigmatic far side.
NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Christina Koch, alongside Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, are currently on the third day of their historic mission, which involves a trajectory looping around Earth’s natural satellite.
“Last night, we saw the far side of the Moon for the first time. It was simply breathtaking,” Koch shared. “I think one of the interesting features of the Moon that looks different is its dark areas. This is something we’ve never seen before.”
This significant observation follows recent milestones, including NASA’s release on April 3 of the first full-disc image of Earth in nearly 55 years. This unique photograph was captured by the astronauts from their vantage point in the Orion spacecraft as they journey towards the Moon.
Prior to that, the Orion crew successfully photographed our planet from a distance of 70,000 kilometers, depicting Earth as a delicate crescent. Such a perspective of Earth had not been witnessed by human eyes since the conclusion of the Apollo program.
