This photo provided by NASA shows the moon seen from a window on the Orion spacecraft Integrity during the Artemis II mission on Friday, April 3, 2026. AP
The four astronauts on NASA's Artemis II mission began their fifth day journeying to the Moon on Sunday, April 5, after already taking in sights of the lunar surface never before seen by human eyes. As they awoke for day five of the 10-day mission, their Orion spaceship was nearly 346,000 kilometers from Earth and 105,000 km from the Moon, according to NASA's online dashboard.
Former astronaut Charlie Duke, who walked on the Moon in 1972 as part of the Apollo 16 mission, gave the ceremonial wakeup call to the crew. "Below you on the Moon is a photo of my family. I pray it reminds you that we in America and all of the world are cheering you on. Thanks to you and the whole team on the ground for building on our Apollo legacy with Artemis," said the 90-year-old.
Earlier, in the wee hours of Sunday, the US space agency published an image taken by the Artemis crew, showing a distant Moon with the Orientale basin visible. "This mission marks the first time the entire basin has been seen with human eyes," NASA said. The massive crater, which resembles a bullseye, had been photographed before by orbiting cameras.
