FREE RETURN / THE FAR SIDE / ART002-E-20686

Artemis II · The far side · April 6, 2026

The lunar far side near Vavilov, from 8,712 km

Taken April 6, 2026 at 21:27:20 UTC (Apr 6, 5:27 PM EDT), mission time T+04d 22:52:20, with a Nikon D5 at 155 mm. Orion was 412,049 km (256,035 mi) from Earth and 8,712 km above the Moon. Directly below the spacecraft: the area near Vavilov.

Taken

April 6, 2026 at 21:27:20 UTC · Apr 6, 5:27 PM EDT

Mission time

T+04d 22:52:20

Camera

Nikon D5 · 155 mm lens

From Earth

412,049 km · 256,035 mi

Above the Moon

8,712 km · 5,413 mi

Below Orion

0.0°N 134.0°W on the Moon

Chapter

The far side — Ground no human eye had seen directly in 53 years: Orientale, Hertzsprung, Vavilov.

NASA record

ART002-E-20686 on NASA's Gateway to Astronaut Photography ↗

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The lunar far side near Vavilov, from 8,586 km

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