PHOTOS: Artemis II crew sends first photos from long-in-coming lunar mission

Like most people on a once-in-a-lifetime trip, these travelers will be taking a lot of photos. The main difference is, they’re doing so while hurtling through space toward the moon.

Artemis II, which launched April 1, is NASA’s first crewed mission to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.

During their ten-day mission, astronauts Jeremy Hansen, Baltimore County native Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch have been tasked with observing and photographing the far side of the moon.

NASA has released some of the photos they’ve taken on the way.

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An image of Earth taken by NASA’s Artemis II astronaut commander Reid Wiseman inside the Orion capsule on Friday, April 3, 2026. (NASA via AP)

A sliver of the Earth is seen from a window on the Orion capsule

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The Earth peeks through a window of the Orion capsule in this photo taken by NASA’s Artemis II astronaut commander Reid Wiseman on Friday, April 3, 2026. (NASA via AP)

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A view of the Moon taken by an Artemis II crew member through the window of the Orion spacecraft on Friday, April 3, 2026. (NASA)

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NASA said Orion snapped this high-resolution selfie in space with a camera mounted on one of its solar array wings during a routine external inspection of the spacecraft on Thursday, April 2, 2026. (NASA)

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This image released by NASA on Thursday, April 2, 2026, shows NASA’s Orion spacecraft with Earth in the background. (NASA via AP)

Artemis II moon rocket shortly after liftoff, with birds flying in foreground

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NASA’s Artemis II moon rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-B Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

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Guests watch the launch of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft and four crew members at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA/Getty Images)

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Solid rocket boosters are seen as they fall away after separating from NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket shortly after the Artemis II crewed lunar mission lift off from Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 1, 2026. (Photo by Miguel J Rodriguez Carrillo/AFP via Getty Images)

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The Artemis II crew, from left, Canadian astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, Commander Reid Wiseman, mission specialist Christina Koch and pilot Victor Glover as they speak with NASA Mission Control in a video conference while en route to the moon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This image from video provided by NASA shows the Artemis II crew, from left, Canadian astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, Commander Reid Wiseman, mission specialist Christina Koch and pilot Victor Glover as they speak with NASA Mission Control in a video conference while en route to the moon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (NASA via AP) CORRECTION: headed to the moon, not in moon's orbit

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Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, Artemis II mission specialist, NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot, Reid Wiseman, Artemis II commander, and Christina Koch, Artemis II mission specialist, walk out before traveling to the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center on April 1, 2026. (Photo by Jim WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

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PHOTOS: Artemis II crew sends first photos from long-in-coming lunar mission

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