'Absolutely stunning' — Artemis II photo captures moon eclipse of sun
Artemis II is returning home after breaking the record for the farthest distance traveled by humans from Earth and setting the stage for a manned lunar landing.
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The crew of Artemis II captured what NASA's chief called an "absolutely stunning" photo of the moon eclipsing the sun, as the spacecraft broke Apollo 13's 56-year-old record for the longest distance traveled by humans from Earth.
"This is not AI," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday.
"This is why we do what we do," said Isaacman, as Artemis II continued heading back home to Earth.
The White House posted the photo taken Monday by Artemis II, and NASA released other photos from the Orion capsule, which conducted a six-hour flyby of the moon with four astronauts on board.
Artemis II view of the moon eclipsing the sun.
NASA
Isaacman said, "I just looked at the pictures about five minutes before getting on ... this interview, and I would just say they looked absolutely stunning."
Artemis' crew "mentioned this last night during the webcast that they don't know if human eyes are ready to see what they've captured," he said.
A view of the Moon as the Artemis II mission's Orion spacecraft approaches to reach its furthest distance from Earth, in this screengrab taken from a livestream video on April 6, 2026.
Nasa | Via Reuters
"I just paused when I saw it," Isaacman said. "This is why we send astronauts farther into space than ever before."
"It's why we bring them back home and learn and continue what is, I think, the greatest adventure in human history," he said.
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Artemis II astronaut Jeremy Hansen radioed Monday from the spacecraft, "It is blowing my mind what you can see with the naked eye from the moon right now."
"It is just unbelievable," said Hansen, a Canadian, according to a report by The Associated Press.
The three other crew members are Americans, among them the commander, Reid Wiseman, who wept Monday when Hansen asked permission from the crew to name a fresh lunar crater after Wiseman's late wife, who died from cancer in 2020, the AP noted.
Artemis is NASA's first spacecraft to fly by the moon since Apollo 17's landing there in December 1972.
"You've made history and made all America really proud," President Donald Trump told the crew during a call Monday.
NASA plans to launch Artemis III in 2027 to practice docking lunar landers.
NASA astronaut and Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows, looking back at Earth, as the crew travels towards the Moon April 2, 2026.
Nasa | Via Reuters
The space agency aims to land two astronauts at the South Pole of the moon in 2028 with the Artemis IV mission.
"In a matter of months, really, by the beginning of 2027, we're going to start landing uncrewed robotic missions on a nearly monthly cadence on the South Pole of the moon, and actually start building the moon base," Isaacman said Tuesday.
