NASA released the first images of the Earth from the hearing

The crew of the Artemis II probe is now closer to the Moon than to Earth. Picture: Nasa

of the United States the space administration Nasa has published the first pictures of Earth taken from the Orion spacecraft.

At the same time, Nasa said that the astronauts of the Artemis II lunar flight have crossed the halfway point on their journey from Earth to the Moon.

Artemis II was launched on Thursday morning Finnish time from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. Orion later separated from its launch vehicle and continued its journey towards the Moon.

Orion’s crew of four flies farther than humans have ever gone before.

Early on Saturday, Orion was more than 229,000 kilometers away from Earth. The halfway point was reached approximately two days, five hours and 24 minutes after launch.

Astronaut Christina Koch described reaching the milestone as a moment of shared joy.

“We can see the Moon now through the docking port window. It’s a beautiful sight,” Koch said in a NASA broadcast, according to news agency AFP.

In the images published by NASA, the Earth appears as a complete sphere, on the surface of which the oceans and cloud formations stand out.

Lennon the next significant stage will be reached on the night between Sunday and Monday, when the Moon’s gravity begins to control the movement of the ship.

If everything goes as planned, the astronauts will orbit the Moon early next week. They will not land on the surface of the moon. More than 50 years have passed since the last manned hearing.

According to NASA, the ship’s systems are working well and the crew is in good condition. During the flight, the astronauts will also make scientific observations and test the Orion spacecraft for future hearings.

The goal of the Artemis program is to return humans close to the Moon and later on its surface, and to build a permanent base that would enable trips even further into space.

Kuulenno’s crew commander Reid Wisemanin in the picture taken on Thursday, the Earth is visible in the backlight.

In the picture, where the Earth is completely visible in the light, the aurora borealis also stands out near the surface of the Earth. They can be seen in the picture as a green line of light in the upper right and lower left.