What a view.
By Chance Townsend on April 1, 2026
NASA’s Artemis II Orion spacecraft has started sending its first images from deep space, showing Earth from a distance not traveled by a crewed mission since Apollo.
The Orion capsule launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 1 with Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, embarking on a 10-day mission around the moon. Koch and Glover are set to break spaceflight records for women and people of color when Orion exceeds the International Space Station’s 250-mile altitude.
Artemis I completed a similar journey in November 2022 without a crew, captivating audiences with its Earth views post-launch. This time, four astronauts are aboard.
NASA is livestreaming Artemis II’s flight views. The stream spans the ascent into space to just before returning to Earth.
On Flight Day 6, the crew is expected to set a new human spaceflight distance record when Orion passes behind the moon. During the 45-minute communication blackout, they’ll capture unprecedented images of the lunar far side. Orion is set to splash down on April 10 near San Diego, where U.S. Navy teams await recovery.
Topics: NASA
Chance Townsend is the General Assignments Editor at Mashable. He holds a Master’s in Journalism from the University of North Texas and is a proud orange cat parent. His work has appeared in PC Mag and Mother Jones. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, sleeping, and Detroit sports. Contact him on Bluesky @offbrandchance.bsky.social or via email.