TL;DR
- NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman filmed an Earthset from the moon.
- The video showcases Earth disappearing behind the moon.
- Wiseman described the view as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
- Artemis II is NASA’s first moon mission in over 50 years.
- More stunning images from the mission are expected soon.
In a cosmic spectacle that only a handful of humans have ever witnessed, NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, commander of the Artemis II mission, captured a breathtaking video of Earthset while orbiting the moon. This stunning footage, shared on X, shows our beautiful planet fading out of view behind the moon’s rugged surface. Wiseman poetically remarked that it felt “like watching sunset at the beach from the most foreign seat in the cosmos.” Talk about a view!
On April 1, Wiseman and his fellow astronauts, Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Jeremy Hansen, launched towards the moon. After circling both Earth and the moon for 10 days, they returned home on April 10, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego. During their mission, they became the first crew to witness much of the lunar far side—the side that never shows its face to Earth. Wiseman couldn’t resist the urge to film the Earthset on April 6, and the results are nothing short of spectacular.
“I could barely see the Moon through the docking hatch window,” he explained. “But the iPhone was the perfect size to catch the view…this is uncropped, uncut with 8x zoom which is quite comparable to the view of the human eye.” Can we get a round of applause for modern technology?
While Wiseman was busy capturing this incredible moment, his crewmates were also hard at work, snapping photos and documenting the moon’s impact craters and rugged terrain. “You can hear the shutter on the Nikon as @Astro_Christina is hammering away on 3-shot brackets and capturing those exceptional Earthset photos through the 400mm lens,” Wiseman noted, giving a shoutout to Koch’s photography skills.
The astronauts dedicated about seven hours to taking photos and gathering observations during their flyby, and the images released so far have already left us in awe. The stunning visuals feature the moon’s crater-filled surface with Earth peeking out in the distance. And guess what? Many more images are set to be released in the coming weeks and months. So, stay tuned!
Wiseman’s Earthset video is a modern nod to the iconic Earthrise photo taken during the Apollo 8 mission in 1968, which showed Earth coming into view rather than disappearing. The Artemis II mission marks a significant milestone for NASA, being the agency’s first moon mission in over 50 years. As we look ahead, NASA is gearing up for the Artemis III mission, expected to launch in mid-2027, which will involve technology demonstrations with commercially built moon landers from SpaceX or Blue Origin.
So, buckle up, space enthusiasts! The journey to the moon is just getting started, and with it, a universe of possibilities awaits!
https://x.com/astro_reid/status/2046009031613907029?s=20