FREE RETURN / THE FAR SIDE / ART002-E-9282

Artemis II · The far side · April 6, 2026

The lunar far side near Vavilov, from 7,867 km

Taken April 6, 2026 at 21:49:43 UTC (Apr 6, 5:49 PM EDT), mission time T+04d 23:14:43, with a Nikon D5 at 400 mm. Orion was 412,466 km (256,294 mi) from Earth and 7,867 km above the Moon. Directly below the spacecraft: the area near Vavilov.

Taken

April 6, 2026 at 21:49:43 UTC · Apr 6, 5:49 PM EDT

Mission time

T+04d 23:14:43

Camera

Nikon D5 · 400 mm lens

From Earth

412,466 km · 256,294 mi

Above the Moon

7,867 km · 4,888 mi

Below Orion

0.6°S 143.0°W on the Moon

Chapter

The far side — Ground no human eye had seen directly in 53 years: Orientale, Hertzsprung, Vavilov.

NASA record

ART002-E-9282 on NASA's Gateway to Astronaut Photography ↗

More from The far side

ART002-E-9851
Near Orientale basin: craters the crew proposed naming Integrity and CarrollART002-E-10000
The far side of the Moon from 13,666 kmART002-E-19968
The far side of the Moon from 12,371 kmART002-E-20000
The far side of the Moon from 12,303 kmART002-E-24768
The lunar far side near Hertzsprung, from 9,453 kmART002-E-10247
Vavilov crater on the rim of the Hertzsprung basin, lunar far sideART002-E-10368
The lunar far side near Vavilov, from 7,901 km

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