Artemis II: NASA releases first images of Earth — ‘spectacular blues and browns, green aurora’ seen

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released first images of Earth as viewed from the Artemis II mission’s Orion spacecraft. The images showed the Earth all “lit up in spectacular blues and browns.”

The images were released on Day 3 of the Artemis II mission which was launch on April 1.

Two breathtaking pictures of our planet Earth was captured by the Artemis II astronaut Reid Wiseman as the crew looked back through the window of the Orion capsule.

“Good morning, world! 🌎 We have spectacular new high-resolution images of our home planet, all of us looking back through the Orion capsule window at our Artemis II astronauts as they continue their journey to the Moon,” NASA posted on X.

The US space agency added, “We see our home planet as a whole, lit up in spectacular blues and browns. A green aurora even lights up the atmosphere. That’s us, together, watching as our astronauts make their journey to the Moon.”

NASA description: “One-third of Earth peeking through the window of the Orion capsule. The planet is a dreamy pale blue, swirling with white clouds and reflected sunlight. Although Earth only fills a fraction of the image it is the brightest object in the image by far.”

“The capsule window is surrounded by a thick frame held in place with bolts, reminiscent of a heavy duty airplane window. It is dark in the capsule, but the outlines of straps and various components of the capsule are visible. Brighter white components are visible in the upper right corner.

2. In the second image, we see our home planet as a whole, lit up in spectacular blues and browns. A green aurora even lights up the atmosphere in the north.

NASA description: “A full disk image of Earth, as seen from the Orion capsule. The planet is a pale blue, swirling with white clouds and glowing slightly lighter blue in place from reflected light.”

“From about 8 to 9 o’clock, a large brown landmass is Africa, with the Iberian peninsula twinkling with lights just where the planet curves. At the 1 o’clock spot, aurora glow in a thin green glow, just barely separated from the planet’s surface.”

The “NASA History Office” called the image by Artemis II crew “a Blue Marble photo for a new generation” — a reference to the image of Earth taken by the Apollo 17 crew back in 1972.

The classic ‘Blue Marble’ photograph of the Earth was first taken on December 7, 1972. It showed the view of the Earth as seen by the Apollo 17 crew traveling toward the moon.

The NASA had explained the image as: This translunar coast photograph extends from the Mediterranean Sea area to the Antarctica south polar ice cap. This is the first time the Apollo trajectory made it possible to photograph the south polar ice cap. Note the heavy cloud cover in the Southern Hemisphere. Almost the entire coastline of Africa is clearly visible. The Arabian Peninsula can be seen at the northeastern edge of Africa. The large island off the east coast of Africa is the Republic of Madagascar. The Asian mainland is on the horizon toward the northeast.”

With the approximately six-minute firing of the spacecraft’s service module engine on Thursday, known as the translunar injection burn, Orion and its crew of NASA astronauts accelerated to break free of Earth’s orbit and began the outbound trajectory toward Earth’s nearest neighbor.

“Today, for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972, humans have departed Earth orbit. Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy now are on a precise trajectory toward the Moon. Orion is operating with crew for the first time in space, and we are gathering critical data, and learning from each step,” said Dr Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

“Each milestone we reach marks meaningful progress on the path forward for the Artemis program. While we have eight intensive days of work ahead, this is a big moment, and we’re proud to share it with the world,” he added.