‘Sky Full Of Stars’: NASA Shares ‘Breathtaking’ View Of Milky Way Taken By Artemis II Crew

Last Updated:April 09, 2026, 04:10 IST

In the image, countless stars sparkle sharply due to the absence of Earth’s atmosphere.

The serene image captures the beauty of the universe beyond our planet.

NASA’s Artemis II on Wednesday (local time) shared a breathtaking view of our galaxy, Milky Way, stretching across deep space.

The image, shared by the space agency on its social media platforms, showed a starfield filled with thousands of stars and shining clouds of dust.

“A starfield filled with thousands of stars and shining clouds of dust. The Milky Way’s elegant spiral structure is dominated by just two arms wrapping off the ends of a central bar of stars,” NASA captioned the post on Instagram.

Earlier on April 3, the crew shared the first image of Earth from the Orion spacecraft.

Artemis II, humanity’s first crewed mission to the Moon’s neighbourhood since Apollo 17 in 1972, is a 10-day journey around the Moon and back. The four astronauts on the mission are NASA commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency mission specialist Jeremy Hansen.

The Orion spacecraft has completed its lunar fly-by, reaching the furthest distance travelled by humans from Earth at 252,756 miles (406,771 km). The Orion capsule left the moon’s sphere of influence and was re-engaged by Earth’s predominant gravitational pull Tuesday as the Integrity crew sped back home at more than 1,700 miles per hour.

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