Artemis II Makes Historic Moon Sighting as Crew Preps for Highly-Anticipated Lunar Flyby

The Artemis II astronauts saw a side of the moon never before seen by human eyes over the weekend — but it was just an appetizer for their historic lunar flyby expected to begin Monday afternoon.

Orientale basin — a huge, black impact crater on the far side of the moon — came into full view of Artemis II on Saturday, with the crew beaming back stunning photos of the formation as they hurtled through space about 200,000 miles from Earth.

“In this new image from our @NASAArtemis II crew, you can see Orientale basin on the right edge of the lunar disk,” NASA wrote while sharing the photo in a Sunday X post.

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 mission marks the first time the entire basin has been seen with human eyes,” the space agency hailed.

“History in the making.” (Read more from “Artemis II Makes Historic Moon Sighting as Crew Preps for Highly-Anticipated Lunar Flyby” HERE)