FREE RETURN / THE FAR SIDE / ART002-E-20729

Artemis II · The far side · April 6, 2026

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

Taken April 6, 2026 at 21:30:26 UTC (Apr 6, 5:30 PM EDT), mission time T+04d 22:55:26, with a Nikon D5 at 400 mm. Orion was 412,102 km (256,068 mi) from Earth and 8,586 km above the Moon. Directly below the spacecraft: the area near Vavilov.

Taken

April 6, 2026 at 21:30:26 UTC · Apr 6, 5:30 PM EDT

Mission time

T+04d 22:55:26

Camera

Nikon D5 · 400 mm lens

From Earth

412,102 km · 256,068 mi

Above the Moon

8,586 km · 5,335 mi

Below Orion

0.1°S 135.1°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-20729 on NASA's Gateway to Astronaut Photography ↗

More from The far side

ART002-E-20668
The lunar far side near Vavilov, from 8,767 kmART002-E-20669
The lunar far side near Vavilov, from 8,728 kmART002-E-20686
The lunar far side near Vavilov, from 8,712 kmART002-E-20710
The lunar far side near Vavilov, from 8,690 kmART002-E-20723
The lunar far side near Vavilov, from 8,669 kmART002-E-20726
The lunar far side near Vavilov, from 8,627 kmART002-E-20773
The lunar far side near Vavilov, from 8,528 kmART002-E-20782
The lunar far side near Vavilov, from 8,488 km

Every chapter