Image Courtesy: NASA
A new video captured during the Artemis II mission shows Earth gradually vanishing behind the Moon, offering a rare perspective of a phenomenon known as an “Earthset.” The footage was shared by mission commander Reid Wiseman and highlights a view not seen by human eyes in decades.
The video was recorded as the spacecraft traveled beyond the Moon during its historic journey. While still images of the event were captured separately, Wiseman filmed the sequence using a smartphone, noting that the device’s size and zoom made it well suited to capture the scene through the spacecraft window, according to a post shared on X.
An Earthset occurs when Earth appears to sink below the lunar horizon, similar to how the Sun sets on Earth. The event is rarely observed directly by humans due to the limited number of crewed missions traveling far enough beyond the Moon to witness it.
The Artemis II mission marks a significant milestone in human spaceflight, carrying astronauts farther from Earth than any crewed mission before it. The spacecraft traveled more than a quarter of a million miles from Earth and ventured thousands of miles beyond the Moon during its trajectory.
The last time humans directly observed an Earthset was during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. Since then, similar views have primarily been captured by uncrewed spacecraft and satellites, rather than by astronauts.
The footage provides a visual reminder of Earth’s scale and isolation when viewed from deep space. As the planet gradually disappears behind the Moon’s surface, it underscores the vast distances involved in space travel and the limited vantage points from which such scenes can be recorded.
The release of the video adds to the growing collection of imagery from Artemis II, which is part of broader efforts to return humans to lunar orbit and eventually establish a sustained presence beyond Earth.
