The Digest:
NASA's Artemis II crew has released "Hello, World," the first high-resolution images of Earth captured from the Orion spacecraft. Traveling 100,000 miles from home, astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen documented the African continent and atmospheric auroras. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 1, 2026, marking the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. The crew is expected to fly around the far side of the Moon on April 6.
Key Points:
- The images are the most remarkable Earth photographs captured in over 50 years.
- Africa is prominently featured, a point of pride for the continent.
- The mission paves the way for returning humans to the lunar surface in 2028.
- The crew described the view as "the most spectacular moment."
- Modern technology offers far higher resolution than 1972's Apollo images.
Watch for the crew's lunar flyby on April 6 and their splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on April 10.
Sources: X
