The far side of the moon artemis ii – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
Skip to main content
The homepageThe VergeThe Verge logo.
The homepageThe VergeThe Verge logo.

NASA’s Artemis II mission to fly around the far side of the Moon

See all Stories

Posted
T
Terrence O'Brien
The far side of the Moon peeks out to say hi.

NASA shared this photo taken by the Artemis II crew today, showing the Orientale basin in its entirety for the first time. The far side is also becoming visible as the mission approaches its destination.

The Artemis II crew took this photo on day 4 of their journey to the Moon. In it, the Moon is oriented with the South Pole at the top and are beginning to see parts of the lunar far side. Orientale basin is on the right edge of the lunar disk in this image. Artemis II marks the first time that humans have seen the entire basin. The Artemis II crew will continue to observe Orientale from multiple angles as they approach the Moon and throughout the lunar flyby. Orientale is the textbook multi-ring impact basin used as a baseline to compare other impact craters on rocky worlds from Mercury to Pluto.
Image: NASA
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
Comments
Loading comments
Getting the conversation ready...

Most Popular

Most Popular
  1. Anthropic’s most dangerous AI model just fell into the wrong hands
  2. Sony’s PlayStation 5 is $200 off for the first time since December
  3. The unraveling of Dan Crenshaw
  4. Elon Musk admits that millions of Tesla vehicles won’t get unsupervised FSD
  5. I bought Alienware’s $350 OLED monitor and I can’t believe how good it is

More in Science

Watch Sony’s elite ping-pong robot beat top-ranked playersWatch Sony’s elite ping-pong robot beat top-ranked players
SpaceX cuts a deal to maybe buy Cursor for $60 billionSpaceX cuts a deal to maybe buy Cursor for $60 billion
ISS astronauts are getting new laptopsISS astronauts are getting new laptops
Wearable health tech might be Tim Cook’s greatest legacy Wearable health tech might be Tim Cook’s greatest legacy 
The SpaceX IPO is a trillion-dollar gamble on the future of spaceThe SpaceX IPO is a trillion-dollar gamble on the future of space
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket grounded after delivering satellite to wrong orbitBlue Origin’s New Glenn rocket grounded after delivering satellite to wrong orbit

Top Stories