NASA Releases Latest Image of Earth in 50 Years

Astronauts aboard NASA’s Artemis II mission have captured some of the clearest images of Earth in more than 50 years. The images, released on Saturday, were captured during their travel towards the Moon.

Just three days into the 10-day mission, commander Reid Wiseman photographed Earth from nearly 100,000 miles away. One image shows the planet in vivid blues and browns, with a green aurora lighting the atmosphere. Another captures the sharp divide between night and day, while city lights glow across the darkened surface.

The images have drawn comparisons to the iconic “Blue Marble” photograph taken during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

The four-member crew is travelling aboard the Orion capsule and is expected to make a historic flyby of the moon on April 6. During the mission, they will travel farther from Earth than any humans in history, surpassing the Apollo 13 record of 248,655 miles.

The crew includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Victor Glover, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. The mission marks key milestones, with Glover becoming the first Black man to travel to the moon’s vicinity, Koch the first woman, and Hansen the first Canadian.

NASA says Artemis II is a historic step towards returning humans to the moon and prepare for future missions to Mars.