NASA astronauts capture first view of Moon’s far side
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- NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen entered the third day of the Artemis II mission aboard Orion, which will carry them around the Moon’s far side and back to Earth.
- Christina Koch described the view as “something about your senses that is not the Moon that I’m used to seeing.”
- Artemis II shared a photo of the Orientale basin, which NASA said is the first time the entire basin has been seen with human eyes.
- NASA’s online dashboard indicated that at 23:00 BST on Saturday the Artemis II spacecraft was more than 180,000 miles (289,681 km) from Earth.
- Orion spacecraft will carry the crew around the Moon’s far side and back to Earth, demonstrating deep‑space capability.
Why it matters: NASA gains unprecedented visual data of the Moon’s far side, supporting future landing site selection and deep‑space navigation, while the mission validates Orion’s ability to operate at distances beyond 180,000 miles, a key step toward sustainable lunar exploration and informs mission planning for Artemis III.
