For the first time in more than half a century, human eyes have looked upon the lunar far side and captured what the crew of Artemis II describes as a perspective of the Moon never before seen in its entirety. On Sunday, NASA released a photograph taken by the astronauts that reveals the Orientale basin, a massive impact site on the Moon’s hidden face, in a singular, sweeping view.
The image, captured Saturday, presents a disorienting but breathtaking perspective: the Moon appears inverted, with its South Pole pointing upward. This orientation allowed the crew to capture the full extent of the Orientale basin on the right edge of the lunar disk, marking a milestone in human spaceflight as the first time this specific geological feature has been viewed in its entirety by a human observer.
History in the making
In this new image from our @NASAArtemis II crew, you can see Orientale basin on the right edge of the lunar disk. This mission marks the first time the entire basin has been seen with human eyes. pic.twitter.com/iqjod6gqgz
— NASA (@NASA) April 5, 2026
This foto de la cara oculta de la Luna serves as a prelude to the mission’s primary objective. The crew is currently one day away from reaching a strategic observation point that will allow for a more detailed analysis of the lunar surface. This journey has already pushed the crew to a distance of 406,773 kilometers from Earth, the furthest distance humans have ever traveled from their home planet.
Mapping the Orientale Basin
The Orientale basin is one of the most significant impact structures in the solar system, providing a geological record of the Moon’s early history. Even as orbiting probes and unmanned satellites have mapped the region for decades, the human perspective offers a different level of observational nuance, particularly regarding light and shadow across the basin’s concentric rings.
The mission’s crew—consisting of Commander Reid Wiseman and astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen—spent Sunday reviewing a comprehensive checklist of surface features. They are preparing for a critical six-hour flyover scheduled for the afternoon of Monday, April 6. During this window, the main cabin windows of the Orion spacecraft will be aligned specifically to provide an unobstructed view of the lunar terrain.
The Challenge of the Lunar Far Side
Navigating the far side of the Moon presents a unique technical challenge: the “communication blackout.” Because the mass of the Moon physically blocks all direct radio signals between the spacecraft and Earth, the crew will lose contact with Mission Control for approximately 40 minutes during their transit.
NASA has confirmed that this loss of signal is a planned and controlled aspect of the mission. During this period of silence, the astronauts will rely on autonomous systems and pre-planned protocols to maintain the trajectory of the Orion capsule. This phase of the mission is critical for testing the resilience of deep-space communication arrays and the crew’s ability to operate independently of ground support.
Before venturing into this silence, the crew took a moment to reflect on their departure. On April 5, the fourth day of the mission, they captured a final image of Earth from the Orion cockpit, a reminder of the distance they have traversed to reach the lunar orbit.
One last look at Earth before we reach the Moon.
This view of the Earth was captured on April 5, the fourth day of the Artemis II mission, from inside the Orion spacecraft. The four astronauts will reach their closest approach of the Moon tomorrow, April 6. pic.twitter.com/z2NJUGWkKc
— NASA (@NASA) April 5, 2026
Mission Timeline and Return
Unlike the Apollo missions of the previous century, the Artemis II crew will not land on the surface. Instead, their mission is designed to validate the life-support systems and navigation capabilities required for future landings. The ten-day odyssey is a high-stakes rehearsal for the subsequent Artemis missions that aim to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon.
| Date | Event | Key Objective |
|---|---|---|
| April 5 | Far-side transit | Capture first human-eye view of Orientale basin |
| April 6 | Closest approach | Six-hour lunar flyover and surface analysis |
| April 6 | Occultation | 40-minute radio silence during far-side passage |
| April 11 | Splashdown | Recovery of Orion capsule off the coast of San Diego |
The mission concludes this coming Friday, when the Orion capsule is scheduled to perform a high-velocity re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. The crew will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, marking the complete of a journey that has redefined the boundaries of human exploration.
The data and imagery collected during this flyover, particularly the foto de la cara oculta de la Luna and subsequent analysis of the Orientale basin, will be used to refine landing site selections for the Artemis III mission, which intends to return humans to the lunar surface for the first time in over 50 years.
The next major milestone for the mission will be the recovery of the crew and the subsequent analysis of the Orion spacecraft’s heat shield and life-support telemetry upon their return to Earth.
Do you think the Artemis missions will pave the way for a permanent lunar base? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
