FREE RETURN / LUNAR APPROACH / ART002-E-24640

Artemis II · Lunar approach · April 6, 2026

Approaching the Moon near Hertzsprung, 10,640 km up

Taken April 6, 2026 at 20:44:42 UTC (Apr 6, 4:44 PM EDT), mission time T+04d 22:09:42, with a Nikon D5 at 200 mm. Orion was 411,101 km (255,446 mi) from Earth and 10,640 km above the Moon. Directly below the spacecraft: the area near Hertzsprung.

Taken

April 6, 2026 at 20:44:42 UTC · Apr 6, 4:44 PM EDT

Mission time

T+04d 22:09:42

Camera

Nikon D5 · 200 mm lens

From Earth

411,101 km · 255,446 mi

Above the Moon

10,640 km · 6,611 mi

Below Orion

0.8°N 120.6°W on the Moon

Chapter

Lunar approach — The Moon fills the windows. The crew begins seven hours of lunar photography.

NASA record

ART002-E-24640 on NASA's Gateway to Astronaut Photography ↗

More from Lunar approach

ART002-E-20271
The Moon on approach, 11,571 km awayART002-E-20336
The Moon on approach, 11,129 km awayART002-E-20346
The Moon on approach, 11,114 km awayART002-E-24606
The Moon on approach, 11,068 km awayART002-E-24630
The Moon on approach, 10,975 km awayART002-E-24655
Approaching the Moon near Hertzsprung, 10,562 km upART002-E-24693
Approaching the Moon near Hertzsprung, 10,147 km upART002-E-24708
Approaching the Moon near Hertzsprung, 10,130 km up

Every chapter