NASA published another incredible photo: ‘We are halfway to the moon’

The photo was taken on the fourth day of the Artemis II mission, the first manned mission to leave low Earth orbit since the Apollo program in 1972. This historic moment was captured by a camera located on top of one of the spacecraft’s solar wings, providing a unique perspective on the spacecraft carrying four astronauts to the Moon.

The first crew after more than 50 years

The Artemis II mission was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on April 1, 2026, with Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission experts Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency participating in it. Their ten-day task is not landing on the moon, butć performing a flight to test all the capabilities of the Orion spacecraft and life support systems in deep space.

This mission lays the groundwork for future, even more ambitious endeavors, including the planned landing of the first woman and the first dark-skinned person on the lunar surface as part of the Artemis III mission. For now, the crew is conducting system checks and preparing for the key moment of the journey – the flyby of the Moon, which is scheduled for April 6. Then it will be at a distance of about 7,400 kilometers from the dark side of the Moon and break the record for the greatest distance that humans have ever been from Earth, which was set by the crew of Apollo 13.

“Ž we live by prayer” in space

The post on Instagram quickly attracted public attention and prompted numerous reactions. While many expressed admiration and dismay at the scene, the more witty followers immediately recognized the beginning of Bon Jovi’s legendary hit “Livin’ on a Prayer” in the line “We’re halfway there”. Comments like “Ooooohhhh Livin’ on a prayer” showed how pop culture is finding its place čeven in conversations about space travel.

There were also several technical questions, such as why the stars are not visible in the photo. Riječ is about a phenomenon in photographs from space where cameras are set to capture extremely bright objects, such as spacecraft or the Moon, due to which the darker background with distant stars remains invisible.

The Artemis II mission continues its journey towards the Moon, using the so-called “free return trajectory”, which means that the Moon’s gravity will naturally “catapult” the spacecraft back towards Earth without the need for a major engine fire. The crew’s return and landing in the Pacific Ocean is expected on April 11, to successfully complete the first step in the new era of lunar exploration.