Artemis astronauts’ first pictures from space released as they zoom toward moon

• Artemis II astronauts have captured stunning images of Earth as they journey closer to the moon.
• NASA released the crew's first downlinked photos, taken 1.5 days into the first astronaut moon mission in over half a century.
• The images include a curved slice of Earth from the capsule window and a full view of the globe with swirling clouds.
• The crew, comprising three Americans and one Canadian, was 90,000 miles from Earth and 168,000 miles from the moon as of Friday morning, expected to reach their destination on Monday.
• They will perform a flyby around the moon in their Orion capsule before heading straight back to Earth, marking the first lunar travellers since Apollo 17 in 1972.

IN FULL

Artemis II's moon-bound astronauts capture Earth's brilliant blue beauty as they leave it behind