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Artemis II astronauts channel Apollo 8 with a striking Earthset photo

Artemis II astronauts channel Apollo 8 with a striking Earthset photo | iNFOnews.ca
In this image provided by NASA, The Artemis II crew captured this view of an Earthset on Monday, April 6, 2026, as they flew around the Moon. (NASA via AP)

HOUSTON (AP) — The Artemis II astronauts are now forever intertwined with Apollo 8.

A day after the historic lunar flyaround, NASA on Tuesday released striking new photos taken by the U.S.-Canadian crew.

The four astronauts channeled Apollo 8’s famous Earthrise shot from 1968 with their own: Earthset, showing our planet setting behind the gray, pockmarked moon. Another photo captures the total solar eclipse that occurred when the moon blocked the sun from the crew’s perspective.

The three Americans and one Canadian are now headed home, with a splashdown in the Pacific set for Friday. In the meantime, scientists at Houston’s Mission Control are poring over the stream of moon photos beaming down.

Apollo 8’s three astronauts became the world’s first lunar visitors, orbiting the moon on Christmas Eve 1968. Their Earthrise shot became a symbol of the modern-day environmental movement.

Artemis II marks NASA’s first return to the moon with astronauts — a critical step toward a lunar landing by another crew in two years.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Artemis II astronauts channel Apollo 8 with a striking Earthset photo | iNFOnews.ca
In this image provided by NASA, The Artemis II crew captured from lunar orbit, the Moon eclipses the Sun on Monday, April 6, 2026. (NASA via AP)
Artemis II astronauts channel Apollo 8 with a striking Earthset photo | iNFOnews.ca
In this image provided by NASA, the Artemis II crew, counterclockwise from top left, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, Commander Reid Wiseman, and Pilot Victor Glover pose with eclipse viewers during a lunar flyby, Monday, April 6, 2026. NASA via AP)
Artemis II astronauts channel Apollo 8 with a striking Earthset photo | iNFOnews.ca
In this image provided by NASA, the Artemis II crew captured this image of the Vavilov Crater on the Moon during a lunar flyby, Monday, April 6, 2026. NASA via AP)
Artemis II astronauts channel Apollo 8 with a striking Earthset photo | iNFOnews.ca
In this image provided by NASA, Artemis II crew members, from left, Victor Glover Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch, pause to turn the camera around for a selfie midway through their lunar observation period of the Moon during a lunar flyby, Monday, April 6, 2026. NASA via AP)

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The Associated Press

Marcia Dunn

The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. More than half the world’s population sees AP journalism every day.

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