HOUSTON — 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 Artemis II crew captured this view of an Earthset on Monday as they flew around the moon.

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 Artemis II crew captured the moon eclipsing the sun Monday from lunar orbit.

The three Americans and one Canadian headed home, with a splashdown in the Pacific set for Friday.

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 Monday during a lunar flyby.

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.

The Artemis II crew captured this image of the Vavilov Crater on the moon Monday during a lunar flyby.

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.

Jacob Bleacher, NASA's chief exploration scientist, says the first two Artemis missions have set the stage for the next moon landing, a moon base and eventually, human exploration of Mars, missions so challenging that only international co-operation makes them possible.


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