Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2026 April 11
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                          Artemis II: Flight Day 6
                    Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]Artemis II

   Explanation: [5]On flight day 6 (April 6) the Artemis II mission
   achieved a [6]historic lunar flyby. Rounding the lunar far side, the
   deep space maneuver marked humanity's first venture to the Moon
   [7]since Apollo 17 in 1972. The Orion spacecraft Integrity reached a
   maximum distance of nearly 407,000 kilometers, and the [8]Artemis II
   crew, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and Jeremy
   Hansen, set the record for the farthest distance from Earth traveled by
   any human since the Apollo 13 crew in 1970. From behind the Moon on
   flight day 6, a solar array wing camera recorded this space age selfie,
   framing the spacecraft and lunar far side. Planet Earth, home to the
   Artemis II crew, is the small, bright crescent beyond the lunar limb.
   The crew safely returned home on Artemis II mission [9]flight day 10.

                         Artemis II: [10]Splashdown
                  Tomorrow's picture: beyond the Milky Way
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     __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: [22]Robert Nemiroff ([23]MTU) & [24]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([25]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [26]Specific rights apply.
            [27]NASA Web Privacy, [28]Accessibility, [29]Notices;
                A service of: [30]ASD at [31]NASA / [32]GSFC,
                         [33]NASA Science Activation
                           & [34]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2604/art002e009567_1920.jpg
   3. https://www.nasa.gov/
   4. https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/
   5. https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/04/06/artemis-ii-flight-day-6-crew-wraps-historic-lunar-flyby/
   6. https://www.nasa.gov/gallery/lunar-flyby/
   7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230513.html
   8. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/our-artemis-crew/
   9. https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/04/10/artemis-ii-flight-day-10-crew-sets-for-final-burn-splashdown/
  10. https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/04/10/artemis-ii-flight-day-10-re-entry-live-updates/
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260410.html
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  15. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  17. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  20. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260411
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260412.html
  22. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  25. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  27. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  28. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  29. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  30. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  33. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  34. http://www.mtu.edu/