Earthset, Artemis II

Opis

The first photograph of Earth setting behind the Moon, taken by humans on the far side. April 6, 2026. During the lunar flyby, the Artemis II crew watched Earth slowly dip below the Moon's horizon as Orion passed over the far side. For about 40 minutes, all communication with mission control went silent. No signal, no downlink, just four people further from home than any human has ever been, 252,756 miles from Earth, breaking Apollo 13's record. From this vantage point, roughly 21% of the Moon's far side was illuminated by the Sun. The rest fell into deep shadow. Earth, still bright, sinks behind the lunar limb in a moment not witnessed by human eyes since the Apollo program in 1968. We believe this is the Earthrise of our generation. In December 1968, Bill Anders photographed Earth rising