                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    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

                          Artemis II: Flight Day 6
                       Image Credit: NASA, Artemis II

   Explanation: On flight day 6 (April 6) the Artemis II mission achieved
   a historic lunar flyby. Rounding the lunar far side, the deep space
   maneuver marked humanity's first venture to the Moon since Apollo 17 in
   1972. The Orion spacecraft Integrity reached a maximum distance of
   nearly 407,000 kilometers, and the 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 flight day 10.

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

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
                  NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

