NASA unveils first images of Earth from Artemis II

Artemis II mission experts unveiled on Friday (April 3) the first images of Earth taken from the Orion Spacecraft.

The four astronauts of NASA's Artemis II mission, which launched from Florida at 6:35 p.m. ET (2235 GMT) on Wednesday (April 1), have a few different devices on board to take photos of space from inside their Orion capsule throughout the flight.

They include a small GoPro action camera, iPhones and professional Nikon cameras, a more familiar brand for NASA astronauts who have used them on the International Space Station (ISS) for years.

"I think you will see a suite of pictures from all of the crew members," Ascent Flight Director for the Artemis II mission, Judd Frieling, told media.

On day six, the astronauts are expected to reach roughly 252,000 miles from Earth, the most distant point ever flown by humans, when the planet will appear no larger than a basketball beyond the moon’s shadowed far side.

The crew is now nearing an orbital exit ramp that will sling them out of Earth's orbit and onto a trajectory toward the moon beginning at 7:49 p.m. ET (2349 GMT) on Thursday, a key phase of their journey called a trans-lunar injection involving a combination of the Orion service module's thrusters and orbital mechanics.

During their first day in space, the astronauts completed the first of dozens of test objectives, including a proximity operations demonstration to evaluate Orion's steering.

Production: Eva Weininger/Reuters