The Artemis II mission crew is making history almost by the minute, and as it prepares for its flight path around the moon, the Orion spaceship has been sharing some photos, including a side of the moon humans have never viewed directly before.
The image, currently posted on social media but likely to be added to the NASA multimedia library soon, is of a moon we both know and, well, one we don't.
This stunning image arrives just a day after Artemis II astronauts delivered the first-ever iPhone space photos — taken with the selfie camera, no less.
Make new friends, but keep the old.A new photo captures the Moon's near side on the right (the side we see from Earth, identifiable by its dark splotches) and its far side on the left. The Artemis II crew are the first to see the far side with human eyes. pic.twitter.com/Z8QaZ6J9iAApril 6, 2026
At first glance, you might say, "Yup, that's the moon I know." But even a casual viewer knows something's not quite right. As the NASA post explains, the right side of the image faces Earth, and the left side is something no human has seen with their own eyes before.
Previous Apollo missions were actually too close to the Moon to get this view (158 miles in 1970). The Artemis Crew will fly about 4,070 miles above the surface, giving them a full view of Earth's lone natural satellite.
I've spent years photographing the moon with various digital cameras, especially a pair of Sony Alphas. First, I used the NEX-5 with a 150MM lens. Then I upgraded to my Sony Alpha A6000 and a 200MM lens backed by a 24MP sensor.
Look closely and see the Moon anew
I wanted to understand just how different our view is from that captured by NASA and the Artemis crew on Monday, April 6.
As you can see in the side-by-side photo above, which I created in Photoshop 2026, the differences are stark.
On the left is Orion's photo, which I only adjusted for brightness. On the right is a photo I took with the Sony Alpha A6000 in 2020.
In my photo on the right, you can see the signature dark patches, which, from the ground, often resolve into "the man on the moon", a surprised face that says, "How did I get here?"
Toward the left side of my image is a bright spot, likely a meteor strike. If you use that as a point of reference and then look at the Artemis II mission image on the left, you can see that the bright spot is now in the upper right.
Now, if your eye goes to the left on the Artemis II mission image, you quickly realize you're seeing things you never saw before,
What strikes me is what looks like a massive crater in the lower left quadrant. That's a feature we've never seen before.
If you have images of the moon or have spent a lot of time viewing it through a telescope, I encourage you to compare your views with this image. It's stunning and unforgettable.
What's even crazier is that the Artemis II crew is just getting started. What a great time for astronomy, space, and photography fans.
