Artemis II: Photos of moon, Earth, space from NASA, CSA astronauts

The Artemis II crew has flown farther from Earth in space than any human ever, surpassing the historic Apollo 13 mission in 1970.

At its closest point, Artemis II's Orion spacecraft will be within 4,070 miles of the moon's surface on its six-hour flight around the moon, NASA said. It's the first time humans will have direct eyes of the moon's surface, and the first time astronauts have flown to the far side of the moon.

Artemis lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 1, the start of a 10-day mission to the moon and back. Artemis II is scheduled to splashdown on the evening of April 10 off the coast of San Diego, California.

Here are some of the photos of the moon and Earth captured by Artemis II's crew, Orion spacecraft, and NASA teams.

What are the Artemis II astronauts looking for on the moon?

The Artemis II astronauts have 30 targets to observe, photograph, and analyze on the moon's southern surface, including the Orientale basin, a 3.8-billion-year-old, 600-mile-wide crater on the moon's surface, and the Hertzsprung basin, a 400-mile crater northwest of the Orientale basin, NASA said.