NASA Reveals First-Ever Full View of Moon’s Orientale Basin Captured by Artemis II Crew

Washington: NASA on Sunday shared an image of the Moon on social media, which was taken by the Artemis II crew during their travel on a mission to fly around the Moon. In the photo there is something special, that has never been seen before.

What is there in the photo?

The picture, which is shared by the NASA, shows the Oriental Basin on the right edge of the lunar surface, that is previously unseen.

Taking to X, NASA posted the picture with the caption, "In this new image from our @NASAArtemis II crew, you can see the Orientale Basin on the right edge of the lunar disk. This mission marks the first time the entire basin has been seen with human eyes."

What is the mission?

The NASA crew traveling to the Moon includes Four astronauts, Americans Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, plus Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency.

This team has embarked on a 10-day mission, orbiting Earth without landing on the Moon, much like Apollo 8 did in 1972.

According to NASA, the mission will test life support and other systems of the Orion spacecraft which is designed to carry humans into space.

The last time astronauts walked on the moon – a feat so far achieved only by the United States – was the final Apollo mission in 1972.

The Artemis II mission aims to capture images of the Moon’s far side. This is NASA’s first crewed lunar mission in over 53 years, continuing the work of the Apollo programme. 

Did NASA share picture of Earth?

Earlier, NASA had shared stunning high-resolution images of Earth. These images were taken by NASA's Artemis II crew during their journey to the Moon.

In these images, Earth appears as a glowing blue sphere amid the deep darkness of space. One image shows the vast blue expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by a thin atmosphere and green aurorae at both poles.

NASA said these images were taken by Artemis II mission commander Reid Wiseman after the crew completed the final engine burn.