Public Release of the 'Earthset' Photo from the Artemis II Mission

Yesterday evening (Italian time), there was a close pass to the surface of the Moon by the Artemis II mission. This was one of the most important and exciting moments of this mission, considering that humanity has not reached such a milestone since the Apollo program ended. The astronauts also broke the record for distance from Earth that had been in place since Apollo 13, reaching 6545 km from the surface of the natural satellite.

The astronauts captured many photographs that will be made public over the coming days and with their return to Earth, when there will no longer be a limitation on transmission at such great distance (where priority is given to telemetry and communications with the crew for safety reasons). On board, as we know, there are two Nikon D5 cameras, one Nikon Z 9, three lenses (12-24 mm f/2.8, 35 mm f/2.0, and 80-400 mm f/4.5-5.6), an iPhone 17 Pro Max, and GoPro Max cameras.

Artemis II and the Iconic Earthset Photograph

One of the most anticipated images from yesterday was a reimagining of the iconic photograph "Earthrise" from the Apollo 8 mission. It took a bit longer than expected, with the photo initially made available exclusively on the official White House profile, but we can finally see the Earth setting from the perspective of the Artemis II crew (unlike the Earth rising in the previous program's mission).

Click on the image to enlarge

The official description in the White House post is "humanity, from the other side. First photo from the far side of the Moon. Taken by Orion as the Earth was sinking beyond the lunar horizon." On Flickr, you can read "Earthset captured through the window of the Orion spacecraft at 15:41 on April 6, 2026, during the lunar flyby by the Artemis II crew. A softly blue Earth with bright white clouds sets behind the cratered lunar surface. The unilluminated side of Earth is experiencing night. On the illuminated side, swirling clouds can be observed over Australia and Oceania. In the foreground, the Ohm crater features edges with varying levels and a flat bottom interrupted by central peaks. Central peaks form in complex craters when the lunar surface, liquefied by impact, is pushed upwards during crater formation."

According to EXIF data, the "EARTHSET" from Artemis II was captured with a Nikon D5 DSLR camera and the 80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6 lens. The shooting parameters were a focal length of 400 mm, f/8.0 for the lens aperture, 1/1000" for exposure time, and sensitivity set to 400 ISO. This will likely be one of the historic images of this mission, leading up to those we will see in 2028 (if all goes as planned) with new photographs of the moon landing.