A photo of Earth taken by the Artemis II crew has sparked plenty of debate because it doesn’t resemble many of the classic images people are used to — and there’s a straightforward explanation.
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, alongside Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, launched on Wednesday for a 10-day flight aboard the Orion spacecraft.
The mission is designed to prove out systems that will be crucial for sustained lunar exploration and, eventually, crewed trips to Mars. The team is also aiming to return some of the clearest views of the Moon yet.
Several days after launch, NASA shared a new photograph the astronauts captured of Earth from space.
Posted on Friday (April 3), the images were celebrated as a reminder of how “gorgeous our home looks from space” — but many viewers online fixated on one thing: the planet appeared noticeably less vivid than earlier, iconic shots.
“I don’t know if it’s the picture quality or atmosphere, but it looks dull now,” one person penned on social media, while a second added: “The old Earth image looks sharper while this new image looks dull. Camera quality or climate change?”
Photographer Javier de la Cuadra, who is based in Colombia, weighed in on X with a technical breakdown of why the image looks “washed out” compared to famous earlier photos.
Ahora sí hablemos en serio de la foto. Este es un trino para interesados en fotografía, astrofotografía y el que quiera ¿Por qué esta foto es increíble? Algún conspiranóico, dándoselas de suspicaz, preguntó que por qué esta foto tomada por el comandante del Artemis II se veía más… pic.twitter.com/bmMBxHgzlx
— Javier de la Cuadra (@JavierDlacuadra) April 4, 2026
The expert explained: “Why does it look more washed out than the one from ’72? Because it turns out that on the side of the Earth we see in that photo, it’s nighttime; if you zoom in, you can see the glow of nighttime lighting.
“But how, if it’s nighttime, can it look like daytime? Because the photo was taken with a super high ISO of 51200! ISO is the sensor’s sensitivity to light. With most digital cameras, at ISOs over 6400, the noise is so much that the photo looks practically unreadable.”
He continued: “The most magical thing about this photo—even more than the northern lights—is how you can see the sunlight, which is on the other side of the Earth, illuminating our atmosphere.
“That’s pure magic, because that atmosphere has a composition that’s perfect down to the millimeter to allow life, as we know it, to be possible. This photo is a precious gift to humanity.”
David Melendrez, who leads imagery integration for the Orion capsule at NASA, also spoke with National Geographic about why pictures like this matter beyond the technical achievement.
“When you see all the strife and the things that are going on in the world today, I think it’s really important to see us as a whole,” he said.
“You look at that picture – there’s no borders in that picture, it’s just all of us. I think that’s one of the biggest things we can take out of this, is reminding everybody, everybody, that that’s our home. And we all have to share it.”
Commander Reid Wiseman, a former US Navy test pilot, is raising his two teenage daughters as a single parent after his wife died from cancer in 2020.
He has previously said he’s been frank with his children about the dangers of spaceflight, describing a conversation on a walk where he told them: “Here’s where the will is, here’s where the trust documents are, and if anything happens to me, here’s what’s going to happen to you… That’s part of this life.”
Wiseman has also shared that he’ll bring a small notepad to record his thoughts during the mission.
Christina Koch, an engineer and physicist, arrives on Artemis II after a career defined by record-setting achievements.
She holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman after spending 328 days aboard the International Space Station in 2019, and she helped complete the first all-female spacewalk. On this mission, she also becomes the first woman to travel to the Moon and head into deep space.
Koch’s personal item will include handwritten notes from people close to her — something she has described as a “tactile connection” to loved ones on Earth.
For Jeremy Hansen — a former Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot and physicist — Artemis II marks his first trip to space, and makes him the first Canadian to travel into deep space.
Married with three children, Hansen plans to carry four moon-shaped pendants for his family, engraved with “Moon and back” and set with their birthstones.
He’ll also be bringing maple syrup and maple cookies for the journey, a nod to home.
Victor Glover, a former US Navy fighter pilot and test pilot who joined NASA in 2013, will make history as the first Black person to travel to the Moon.
Glover is married with four children. He previously served as pilot on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission and spent close to six months on the International Space Station as part of Expedition 64.
Often described as the most charismatic — and most sharply dressed — member of the Artemis II crew, Glover has said he will bring a Bible, his wedding rings and family heirlooms, along with a collection of inspirational quotations put together by Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart.