FREE RETURN / HOMEWARD / ART002-E-29783

Artemis II · Homeward · April 7, 2026

Starry night” — star trails and the Milky Way on the way home

Taken April 7, 2026 at 21:24:58 UTC (Apr 7, 5:24 PM EDT), mission time T+05d 22:49:58, with a Nikon Z 9 at 35 mm. Orion was 374,169 km (232,498 mi) from Earth and 77,453 km above the Moon.

Taken

April 7, 2026 at 21:24:58 UTC · Apr 7, 5:24 PM EDT

Mission time

T+05d 22:49:58

Camera

Nikon Z 9 · 35 mm lens

From Earth

374,169 km · 232,498 mi

Above the Moon

77,453 km · 48,127 mi

Below Orion

27.8°S 92.2°E on Earth

Chapter

Homeward — The free return. Lunar gravity bends the path back toward a growing blue Earth.

NASA record

ART002-E-29783 on NASA's Gateway to Astronaut Photography ↗

More from Homeward

ART002-E-27800
Looking back at the Moon, 139,388 km behindART002-E-27854
Looking back at the Moon, 171,501 km behindART002-E-27866
Looking back at the Moon, 171,573 km behindART002-E-25253
Looking back at the Moon, 173,215 km behind

Every chapter