NASA published this Friday the first photographs taken by the crew of the Orion spacecraft heading to the Moon as part of the Artemis II mission, which seeks to make history when astronauts reach the satellite's orbit after more than half a century. The two images, which offer a view of Earth, were accompanied by a NASA message that emphasizes that the photographs are «a reminder that, no matter how far we go, we remain one world: observing, keeping hope, and aspiring to reach higher». In one of the photographs, the entire planet is observed with the blue of the ocean predominant, white swirls of clouds, and a large brown landmass corresponding to Africa, an image that evokes one captured by the Apollo 17 mission over half a century ago. The other photograph shows a third of Earth appearing through the Orion capsule window, which also shows the strength of the spacecraft. The impressive images were taken by the mission commander, Reid Wiseman. Orion left Earth's orbit yesterday, Thursday, and began its journey to the Moon to become the first crewed mission to reach the satellite's orbit in over half a century. This Friday, the spacecraft was 100,000 miles (160,000 kilometers) from Earth, a milestone that makes the four Artemis II astronauts the first humans to leave our planet's orbit since the Apollo 17 crew traveled to the Moon in 1972. Unlike that mission, Artemis II will not land on the Moon and is only expected to reach the satellite's orbit before returning to Earth, on a total journey of ten days. During its pass over the far side of the Moon, scheduled for April 6, the Orion crew will be more than 400,000 kilometers from our planet and will surpass the record set by Apollo 13 for a mission carrying humans. Commander Wiseman is accompanied by specialist Christina Koch and pilot Victor Glover, both from NASA, as well as Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
