Astronauts on NASA’s Artemis II mission have captured a rare image of the moon eclipsing the sun, with Mars and two other planets visible in the same frame.The photo, taken during the crew’s deep-space voyage, shows the Moon completely blocking the Sun and revealing the glowing solar corona. At the lower right edge of the Moon, three bright points of light are visible, the middle one of which is pale red. NASA confirmed that this object is Mars, while the other two are likely brighter planets that are visible due to the dramatic drop in sunlight during the eclipse.
Images taken on April 6 from cameras mounted on the solar array wings of the Orion spacecraft captured the moon as a dark, clearly defined area backlighted by the Sun, with its cratered surface appearing lighter at the edge. Part of Orion’s structure is visible in silhouette in the foreground, emphasizing the spacecraft’s position during alignment.
The moment comes as part of NASA’s broader Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the Moon for the first time since the Apollo era. Launched on a Space Launch System rocket, the crew is traveling in the Orion spacecraft, designed for long-duration missions beyond low Earth orbit. This mission is an important step towards establishing a continuous human presence around the Moon.
Unlike the Apollo missions, which focused on brief lunar landings, Artemis is designed for long-term exploration. The current crew—Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen—has been hailed as the most diverse crew ever sent on a deep space mission, representing a mix of backgrounds and experience and reflecting a change in NASA’s approach to human spaceflight. Plans include the construction of the Lunar Gateway, a space station that will orbit the Moon and support repeated missions to the lunar surface, particularly near the south pole where water ice has been detected.NASA officials see Artemis as the foundation for future human missions to Mars. By testing new technologies and operating further from Earth than ever before, the program is preparing astronauts for the challenges of deep space travel while providing astronauts with rare and stunning views of the Solar System.
