The most beautiful pictures of Artemis II

Samuel Buchmann

10/4/2026

Translation: machine translated

The crew of the current moon mission takes spectacular pictures from the space capsule. They show the earth and moon from unusual perspectives.

The astronauts on the Artemis II moon mission took spectacular pictures during their orbit around the moon. Here is a collection of the best photos. You can read more about Artemis II here:

Ten-year-old DSLR as the main camera

Photo nerds like me are naturally interested in what you use to take photos in space. Artemis II uses two Nikon cameras. One is the current flagship Z9, the other is the ten-year-old D5. As «PetaPixel» reports, the old SLR is actually the main camera because it still offers the best image quality at high ISO values.

For Artemis III, which is to send humans to the moon for the first time since 1972, NASA will finally switch to the Z9. It was awarded the contract as the official «Handheld Universal Lunar Camera» (HULC) two years ago. To this end, Nikon and NASA are completely overhauling the electronics to protect them from cosmic radiation. Operation is designed for gloves with a new handle and special buttons.

In addition to the Nikon cameras, the iPhone 17 Pro Max and the GoPro Hero4 Black are also in use. The crew uses these to photograph scenes in and around the space capsule. None of the manufacturers pay money for this (Nikon converts the Z9 for Artemis III free of charge). This makes it an even more effective marketing coup.

Hello, world

At the beginning of the mission, commander Reid Wiseman took an impressive picture of the Earth. Two northern lights are visible (top right and bottom left). At the bottom right is the zodiacal light, a scattered light from the sun, which is behind the Earth. Reid used a 14-24 mm lens for the image.

Earthset

Normally, the sun or moon rises or sets in photos. In 1968, astronaut Bill Anders took the iconic picture «Earthrise» (Earthrise) on the Apollo 8 mission.

The crew of Artemis II photographed a new interpretation of the motif as a tribute and christened it «Earthset». The spectacular image was taken with a longer focal length than the original. Night reigns on the dark half of the globe, while swirling clouds can be seen above Australia and Oceania.

Solar eclipse

On 6 April, Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch flew further away from Earth in their Orion capsule than anyone had ever flown before. The four of them were treated to a unique sight: A total solar eclipse behind the moon that lasted 54 minutes - significantly longer than the same spectacle on Earth due to the relatively short distance to the moon.

All around the moon, the so-called corona is visible, a halo of sunlight. This is so faint that the photo captures stars at the same time. Normally, the contrast to stars in photos of the moon is too great for everything to be captured in a single frame. The image above was taken with the Nikon Z9, but the crew used the D5 for the following image. Venus shines in the background.

Back of the moon

The moon always turns the same side towards the earth. The «rear side» is therefore only visible from space. The following image shows the satellite from the side. We can see the right hemisphere from Earth, but not the left. The border runs through the prominent Orientale Basin with its 950-kilometre-wide crater.

Another image shows the far side of the moon along the so-called «terminator» - the boundary between lunar day and lunar night. Because the sunlight falls flat, craters and mountains look particularly impressive. Along the terminator, for example, you can see the Jules crater, the Birkhoff crater and the Stebbins crater.

Everyday life in space

In addition to the images of the moon, the astronauts also capture scenes from and around the space capsule. They give you an idea of what it must be like to float through space hundreds of thousands of kilometres from Earth. NASA has only allowed smartphones to be carried on board since this year, making it easier to take selfies and snapshots than with large cameras.

Artemis II is now on its return flight. Landing is planned for the night of Saturday, 11 April. You can find all images of the mission here.

Samuel Buchmann

Senior Editor

Samuel.Buchmann@digitecgalaxus.ch

My fingerprint often changes so drastically that my MacBook doesn't recognise it anymore. The reason? If I'm not clinging to a monitor or camera, I'm probably clinging to a rockface by the tips of my fingers.

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