Extract from ABC News
The latest photo reveals the Moon's near side that faces us (in the top half), and the far side with the distinctive target-shaped Orientale Basin (in the bottom half). (Supplied: NASA)
In short:
The Artemis II astronauts have travelled further from Earth than any humans before, surpassing the record set by Apollo 13 in 1970.
The historic seven-hour fly-by of the Moon captured never-before-seen views of its far side, to be published by NASA.
What's next?
The mission is a step towards a scheduled landing near the Moon's south pole in 2028.
After travelling deeper into space than anyone has before, the Artemis II astronauts have pointed the Orion spacecraft toward home, wrapping up a lunar cruise that has revealed never-before-seen views of the far side of the moon.
Artemis II, humanity's first journey toward the Moon since 1972, has completed its seven-hour fly-by.
At 3:56am AEST today the crew surpassed the previous record distance of space travel of 400,171 kilometres set by the Apollo 13 mission in 1970.
Three Americans and one Canadian are crewing the mission, which marks a step towards landing near the Moon's south pole in two years' time.
Artemis II astronauts Reid Wiseman, Jeremy Hansen, Christina Koch and Victor Glover en route to the Moon. (AP: NASA)
"It is blowing my mind what you can see with the naked eye from the moon right now. It is just unbelievable," astronaut Jeremy Hansen said via radio ahead of the fly-by.
"Choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long-lived."
Artemis II's lunar orbit is the highlight of the nearly 10-day test flight, which will end with a splashdown in the Pacific on April 11 (Australia time).
Venturing as close as 6,545 kilometres to the grey dusty surface, the astronauts zipped through a list of more than two dozen targets, using powerful cameras to zoom in on impact craters and other intriguing lunar features.
The path the Orion has been following during its 10-day mission. (ABC News: StoryLab)
An emotional tribute
The crew includes three Americans — commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Christina Koch — and Canadian mission specialist Jeremy Hansen.
Moments after breaking Apollo 13's record, the astronauts asked permission to name two fresh lunar craters they had observed.
They proposed Integrity, their capsule's name, and Carroll, in honour of Captain Wiseman's wife, who died of cancer in 2020.
The Artemis II crew suggested the unnamed lunar craters be named Integrity and Carroll.
He wept as Hansen put in the request to Mission Control and all four astronauts tearfully embraced.
"Such a majestic view out here," Captain Wiseman radioed once he regained his composure and started taking pictures.
The astronauts said they managed to capture the moon and Earth in the same shot, and provided a running commentary to scientists back in Houston on what they were seeing.
The Orion Spacecraft, Earth and the Moon, seen as the Artemis II crew travelled further into space. (Supplied: NASA)
Images from the far side of the moon
The highly anticipated images captured of the moon's far side are yet to be published by NASA.
The crew members spent years studying lunar geography to prepare for the big event and their mentor, NASA geologist Kelsey Young, expected thousands of pictures.
Topping their target list was Orientale Basin, a sprawling impact basin with three concentric rings, the outermost of which stretches nearly 950 kilometres across.
The landing sites of Apollo 12 and 14 were also visible, poignant reminders of NASA's first age of exploration more than half a century ago.
The Moon's near side is visible at the right side of the disk. (Supplied: NASA)
Besides photographing the scenes with high-powered Nikon cameras, the astronauts also pulled out their iPhones for some impromptu shots.
Some peaks were so bright, Captain Glover noted, that they looked as though they were covered in snow.
A total solar eclipse greeted the crew as the moon temporarily blocked the sun from their perspective and Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn were visible from the black void.
Reid Wiseman looks at the Moon ahead of the fly-by. (Supplied: NASA)
Astronauts get an Apollo wake-up message
The crew started the momentous day with the voice of Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell, who recorded a wake-up message two months before his death last August.
"Welcome to my old neighbourhood," said Lovell, who also flew on Apollo 8, humanity's first lunar visit.
"It's a historic day and I know how busy you'll be, but don't forget to enjoy the view."
They took up with them the Apollo 8 silk patch that accompanied Lovell to the moon and showed it off as the fly-by approached.
"It's just a real honour to have that on board with us," Commander Wiseman said.
Reid Wiseman peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows, looking back at Earth. (Reuters: NASA)
Looking to future moon landings
Artemis II is NASA's first crewed moonshot since Apollo 17 in 1972.
It sets the stage for next year's Artemis III, which will see another Orion crew practice docking with lunar landers in orbit around Earth.
The culminating moon landing by two astronauts near the moon's south pole will follow on Artemis IV in 2028.
While Artemis II may be taking Apollo 13's path, it is most reminiscent of Apollo 8 and humanity's first lunar visitors, who orbited the moon on Christmas Eve 1968.
Captain Glover said flying to the moon during Christianity's Holy Week brought home for him "the beauty of creation".
Pilot Victor Glover takes a look back at Earth ahead of the fly-by. (Supplied: NASA)
Earth is an oasis amid "a whole bunch of nothing, this thing we call the universe" where humanity exists as one, he observed on the weekend.
"This is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are, and that we are the same thing and that we've got to get through this together," Captain Glover said, clasping hands with his crewmates.
ABC with AP
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