https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8jzr423p9o Skip to content Watch Live * Home * News * Sport * Business * Technology * Health * Culture * Arts * Travel * Earth * Audio * Video * Live * Documentaries * Home * News + US & Canada + UK o UK Politics o England o N. Ireland # N. Ireland Politics o Scotland # Scotland Politics o Wales # Wales Politics + Africa + Asia o China o India + Australia + Europe + Latin America + Middle East + In Pictures + BBC InDepth + BBC Verify * Sport * Business + World of Business + Technology of Business + NYSE Opening Bell * Technology + Watch Documentaries + Artificial Intelligence + AI v the Mind * Health + Watch Documentaries * Culture + Watch Documentaries + Film & TV + Music + Art & Design + Style + Books + Entertainment News * Arts + Watch Documentaries + Arts in Motion * Travel + Watch Documentaries + Destinations o Africa o Antarctica o Asia o Australia and Pacific o Caribbean & Bermuda o Central America o Europe o Middle East o North America o South America + World's Table + Culture & Experiences + Adventures + The SpeciaList * Earth + Watch Documentaries + Science + Natural Wonders + Climate Solutions + Sustainable Business + Green Living * Audio + Podcast Categories + Radio + Audio FAQs * Video + Watch Documentaries + BBC Maestro + Discover the World * Live + Live News + Live Sport * Documentaries [ ] Home News Sport Business Technology Health Culture Arts Travel Earth Audio Video Live Documentaries Weather Newsletters Watch Live Artemis II crew now halfway to Moon as they take 'spectacular' image of Earth 16 hours ago ShareSave Add as preferred on Google Sofia Ferreira Santos [grey-place]Nasa/Reid Wiseman A picture of the Earth from space, which centres the planet against the dark background of space. It's a round blue planet. Clouds can be seen and a thin green aurora at the top.Nasa/Reid Wiseman The image, titled Hello, World, shows the Earth as seen from the Orion capsule Nasa has shared the first high-resolution images of the Earth taken by the Artemis II crew as they pass the halfway point between the Earth and the Moon. The mission's commander, Reid Wiseman, took the "spectacular" images, Nasa says, after the crew completed a final engine burn that set them on a trajectory towards our closest celestial neighbour. At about 07:00 BST, Nasa's online dashboard showed the Orion spacecraft was by then 142,000 miles (228,500 km) from Earth, and 132,000 miles from the Moon. Astronaut Christina Koch said the crew had a collective "expression of joy" upon being told of the milestone, which was hit around two days, five hours and 24 minutes after blast off. The first image, called Hello, World, shows the vast expanse of blue that is the Atlantic Ocean, framed by a glow of the atmosphere as the Earth eclipses the Sun and green auroras at either pole. The Earth appears upside down, with the western Sahara and Iberian peninsula visible to the left and the eastern portion of South America to the right. Nasa identified the bright planet to the bottom right as Venus. [grey-place]Nasa/Reid Wiseman An image from inside of the Orion capsule, which shows a small window and part of the Earth outsideNasa /Reid Wiseman Wiseman also took this picture, titled Artemis II Looking Back at Earth, from one of the Orion spacecraft's four main windows The images were taken after the crew successfully completed a trans-lunar injection burn in the early hours of Friday. The burn took the Orion spacecraft out of Earth orbit as the four astronauts aboard aim to travel the more than 200,000 miles to the Moon. Artemis II is now on a looping path that will carry the crew around the far side of the Moon and back again. It is the first time since 1972 that humans have travelled outside the Earth's orbit. The spacecraft blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and the crew should pass around the far side of the Moon on 6 April before returning to Earth on 10 April with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. [grey-place]NASA Half of the Earth NASA Another image taken by the crew shows the divide between night and day, known as the terminator, cutting across Earth After the burn was completed, the crew were "glued to the windows" taking pictures, mission specialist Jeremy Hansen told mission control in Houston. "We are getting a beautiful view of the dark side of the Earth, lit by the Moon," he said. Wiseman later called back down to mission control in Houston to ask how to clean the windows, as the astronauts' enthusiasm to see into space had left them dirty. The commander had initially found it difficult to take pictures of our planet from the spacecraft, saying taking photos at such a distance made it hard to adjust exposure settings. "It's like walking out back at your house, trying to take a picture of the Moon," he told mission control. "That's what it feels like right now." But that is no longer an issue. Another view captured by Wiseman shows the Earth divided by night and day. That frontier between light and darkness is known as the terminator. [grey-place]NASA/Reid Wiseman Lights twinkle in the nighttime as the Earth completely occludes the Sun in this image taken from the Orion space capsule.NASA/Reid Wiseman Lights twinkle in the nighttime as the Earth completely occludes the Sun Later, Nasa published another image showing the Earth in near-complete darkness, with the electric lights of humankind twinkling in the nighttime. It also produced a side-by-side comparison of 2026's view of the Earth and a similar one taken by the Apollo 17 team in 1972 - the last time humans set foot on the Moon. "We've come so far in the last 54 years, but one thing hasn't changed: our home looks gorgeous from space!" it wrote. [grey-place]NASA Images of Earth taken from the Moon in 1972 (left) and 2026NASA Then and now: Earth, as seen in 1972 (right) and 2026 (left) Artemis II leaves Earth's orbit on track for far side of the Moon Watch: Artemis II's journey so far as it leaves Earth's orbit ... in 85 seconds Everything you need to know about Nasa's Artemis II mission Artemis Earth Nasa The Moon Space exploration --------------------------------------------------------------------- Related 'Something we have never seen before': Artemis II crew describe far side of Moon Artemis II leaves Earth orbit on track for far side of the Moon Artemis II crew share first words from space --------------------------------------------------------------------- More from the BBC 1 day ago [grey-place]A rocket blasting off in a cloud of smoke Watch: Artemis II's journey so far as it leaves Earth orbit... in 85 seconds The crew will not land on the Moon on this current mission, though Nasa is preparing for a potential lunar landing by 2028. 1 day ago 2 days ago [grey-place]A koala on Kangaroo Island hugs a tree branch and looks at the camera (Credit: Ana Norman Bermudez) A rescue mission for chlamydia-stricken koalas An island colony whose koalas are free of chlamydia could help save the wider population from the deadly disease. 2 days ago 2 days ago [grey-place]Astronauts in the Artemis rocket 'Trust us, you look amazing': Artemis II astronauts speak from space The crew on board the Artemis II spoke by video link, sharing messages for their families and experiences of the trip so far. 2 days ago 2 days ago [grey-place]Splitscreen. Left, the Artemis II rocket blasts off. Right, BBC correspondent Arunday Mukharji speaks. Why isn't Artemis II landing on the Moon? The US is aiming to be the first country to land humans on the lunar surface again by 2028 - so what's this mission for? 2 days ago 2 days ago [grey-place]The Space Launch System rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. There are brilliant white flames and lots of smoke around pylon-type structures. Scientists excited to receive first Artemis signal The station in Cornwall is helping to track Artemis II in its crewed mission to the Moon. 2 days ago --------------------------------------------------------------------- * Home * News * Sport * Business * Technology * Health * Culture * Arts * Travel * Earth * Audio * Video * Live * Documentaries * Weather * BBC Shop * BritBox BBC in other languages The BBC is in multiple languages Read the BBC In your own language Oduu Afaan Oromootiin Amharic zeenaa ba'amaarenyaa Arabic `rby Azeri AZ@RBAYCAN Bangla baaNlaa Burmese m[?]n[?]maa Chinese Zhong Wen Wang Dari dry French AFRIQUE Hausa HAUSA Hindi hindii Gaelic NAIDHEACHDAN Gujarati gujraatiimaaN smaacaar Igbo AKUKO N'IGBO Indonesian INDONESIA Japanese Ri Ben Yu Kinyarwanda GAHUZA Kirundi KIRUNDI Korean hangugeo Kyrgyz Kyrgyz Marathi mraatthii Nepali nepaalii Noticias para hispanoparlantes Pashto pStw Persian frsy Pidgin Polish PO POLSKU Portuguese BRASIL Punjabi pNjaabii khhbraaN Russian NA RUSSKOM Serbian NA SRPSKOM Sinhala siNhl Somali SOMALI Swahili HABARI KWA KISWAHILI Tamil tmilllil ceytikll Telugu telugu vaartlu Thai khaawphaasaaaithy Tigrinya zeenaa betegerenyaa Turkish TURKCE Ukrainian UKRAYiNS'KA Urdu rdw Uzbek O'ZBEK Vietnamese TIENG VIET Welsh NEWYDDION Yoruba IROYIN NI YORUBA Follow BBC on: * Terms of Use * Subscription Terms * About the BBC * Privacy Policy * Cookies * Accessibility Help * Contact the BBC * Advertise with us * Do not share or sell my info * BBC.com Help & FAQs * Content Index * Set Preferred Source Copyright 2026 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.