
HOUSTON (AP) — The Artemis II astronauts are now forever intertwined with Apollo 8.
A day after the historic lunar flyaround, NASA on Tuesday released striking new photos taken by the U.S.-Canadian crew.
The four astronauts channeled Apollo 8’s famous Earthrise shot from 1968 with their own: Earthset, showing our planet setting behind the gray, pockmarked moon. Another photo captures the total solar eclipse that occurred when the moon blocked the sun from the crew’s perspective.
The three Americans and one Canadian are now headed home, with a splashdown in the Pacific set for Friday. In the meantime, scientists at Houston's Mission Control are poring over the stream of moon photos beaming down.
Apollo 8's three astronauts became the world's first lunar visitors, orbiting the moon on Christmas Eve 1968. Their Earthrise shot became a symbol of the modern-day environmental movement.
Artemis II marks NASA's first return to the moon with astronauts — a critical step toward a lunar landing by another crew in two years.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
LATEST POSTS
- 1
Hubble Space Telescope spies dusty debris from two cosmic collisions - 2
Hamas propaganda expert explains Israel's internal conflicts influenced Hamas's Oct. 7 assault - 3
NASA launches science balloon in Antarctica | Space photo of the day for Dec. 22, 2025 - 4
Find the Effect of Web-based Entertainment on Society: Exploring the Computerized Scene - 5
Figure out How to Get a good deal on Your Rooftop Substitution Venture
New materials, old physics – the science behind how your winter jacket keeps you warm
Building Tough Connections: Individual Bits of knowledge on Association
'War is not over': Detailed diagrams of prisons found in cells of Oct. 7 terrorists
AI is making spacecraft propulsion more efficient – and could even lead to nuclear-powered rockets
Did we start the fire? A 400,000-year-old hearth sparks new questions about human evolution
The Advancement and Effect of Dental Embed Innovation on Oral Wellbeing
Chemical leak in Oklahoma forces evacuations and leaves many ill
Civilian toll mounts in Iran as war presses on
Texas cities have some of the highest preterm birth rates in the US, highlighting maternal health crisis nationwide













