Stunning Earth photo from Artemis II as crew nears new distance record

NASA shared a photo taken on April 5 from inside the Orion spacecraft showing a mostly dark, tiny Earth as Artemis II nears the Moon.

The Orion vehicle is expected to pass about 4,070 miles from the Moon and will give the crew their closest lunar view in decades.

Shortly before 2 p.m. ET on Monday the crew will surpass Apollo 13's 1970 distance record and later reach about 252,760 miles from Earth.

The 10-day mission launched April 1 from Kennedy Space Center and is testing Orion systems ahead of future Artemis missions.