‘HELLO WORLD’: NASA shares first photos of Earth taken by Artemis II

April 3, 2026

NASA released the first photos of Earth taken by the crew of Artemis II on Friday, hours after the mission left Earth’s orbit.

The first photo, taken by Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman, shows the entire planet, and both the Northern and Southern lights are visible over the poles. Zodiacal light, created by sunlight reflecting off dust in the solar system, is visible in the bottom right of the image.

The photo was taken from the window of the Orion capsule, NASA said, after the crew completed their translunar injection burn.

“Hello, World,” the caption on the post read.

“We see our home planet as a whole, lit up in spectacular blues and browns,” NASA wrote on another X post. “A green aurora even lights up the atmosphere. That’s us, together, watching as our astronauts make their journey to the Moon.”

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. pic.twitter.com/6JkKufBgtJ

— NASA (@NASA) April 3, 2026

In this image, also taken from the Orion capsule, we see the divide between night and day, known as the terminator, cutting across Earth. Whether awake or dreaming, we're all here on this planet together. pic.twitter.com/NhtD2DjBYQ

— NASA (@NASA) April 3, 2026

Even in darkness, we glow.

In this image of Earth taken by the Artemis II crew, we can see the electric lights of human activity. In the lower right, sunlight illuminates the limb of the planet. pic.twitter.com/kWcjHFvoDM

— NASA (@NASA) April 3, 2026

NASA is providing a livestream from Orion as it travels through space.

"Suddenly, we're up there with them."

We're sharing the Artemis II crew's first images from space—keep following our 24/7 live feed for the latest mission updates: https://t.co/BezILihoZc pic.twitter.com/OwgYsWnngp

— NASA (@NASA) April 3, 2026