NASA released a photo of ‘Earth diving’ seen from the far side of the Moon

The White House posted a photo of “Earthset” (Earthset) on X, with the caption: “Humanity viewed from the other side. The first photo from the far side of the Moon, taken from the Orion spacecraft when the Earth disappeared behind the lunar horizon.”

NASA then reposted the article and explained that the Artemis II crew captured the scene of the Earth setting on April 6, 2026, while flying around the Moon. The agency commented that the photo is reminiscent of the iconic Earthrise photo that astronaut Bill Anders took 58 years ago, when the Apollo 8 crew flew around the Moon.

In addition to photos of the Earth diving, NASA also released photos of the solar eclipse taken from the perspective of the Artemis II crew. The White House shared the photo on

The Orion ship carrying the Artemis II crew flew around the Moon early this morning Hanoi time, coming 6,545 km away from this celestial body.

While flying behind the Moon, astronauts witnessed “Earth setting” – when the blue planet disappeared behind the Moon as seen from the Orion ship – around 6:41 p.m. on April 6 (5:44 a.m. on April 7, Hanoi time). A few minutes later, radio and laser signals – which allow two-way information exchange between the Orion spacecraft and Earth – were also blocked by the Moon, leading to communication disruption. The crew experienced about 40 minutes of loss of connection with Earth.

After this time, the Orion spacecraft exited behind the Moon, allowing the crew to continue witnessing the spectacle of “Earthrise” – the blue planet reappearing from the edge of the Moon. This is also accompanied by restored communication.

In addition, around 8:35 p.m. on April 6 (7:35 a.m. Hanoi time), the Sun passed behind the Moon from the crew’s perspective. At this time, the Orion ship entered the dark area and could observe the total solar eclipse. The eclipse observation time on the Orion ship ends at 8:32 a.m. (Hanoi time).

During the flight behind the Moon, the Artemis II crew also broke Apollo 13’s record for the farthest distance from Earth that humans have ever flown, set in 1970. Specifically, Artemis II flew about 406,771 km from Earth, 6,616 km further than Apollo 13.

Previously, on the evening of April 1 (5:35 a.m., April 2, Hanoi time), the Orion spacecraft left the launch pad to carry four Artemis II astronauts to the Moon, becoming NASA’s first manned mission beyond low Earth orbit after 54 years. The crew included mission commander Reid Wiseman (NASA), pilot Victor Glover (NASA), mission specialist Christina Koch (NASA) and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen (Canadian Space Agency CSA). The crew was said to “represent the world”, when for the first time there were women, people of color and non-American members on the Moon.