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The best photos from NASA's first moon mission in more than 50 years

Nbcwashington · · 1075 words · By Denise Chow; NBC News
open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/photos-nasas-artemis-m…

fact_checkFact-Check Results

18 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

schedule Pending 8
check_circle Corroborated 4
help Insufficient Evidence 4
verified Verified By Reference 2
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“NASA’s Artemis II mission, the first crewed flight around the moon in more than 50 years”
CORROBORATED
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Artemis program is a Moon exploration program led by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), aimed at returning humans to the Moon for the first time since Apollo …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_program
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Artemis program is a human spaceflight program by the United States. The Artemis program is intended to reestablish a human presence on the Moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972; mid-ter…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Artemis_missions
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Artemis II was a crewed nine-day lunar flyby mission. With a crew of four astronauts, it was the first crewed flight of the NASA-led Artemis program and the first crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_II
+ 1 more evidence source
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“NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Victor Glover and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen concluded their 10-day mission Friday evening with a splash-down landing in the Pacific Ocean.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Artemis II was a crewed nine-day lunar flyby mission. With a crew of four astronauts, it was the first crewed flight of the NASA-led Artemis program and the first crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_II
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Artemis program is a Moon exploration program led by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), aimed at returning humans to the Moon for the first time since Apollo …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_program
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Artemis program is a human spaceflight program by the United States. The Artemis program is intended to reestablish a human presence on the Moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972; mid-ter…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Artemis_missions
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“The crew launched April 1 on the 10-day journey, which took them around the far side of the moon.”
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Artemis II was a crewed nine-day lunar flyby mission. With a crew of four astronauts, it was the first crewed flight of the NASA-led Artemis program and the first crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_II
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Artemis program is a human spaceflight program by the United States. The Artemis program is intended to reestablish a human presence on the Moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972; mid-ter…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Artemis_missions
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Artemis program is a Moon exploration program led by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), aimed at returning humans to the Moon for the first time since Apollo …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_program
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“They traveled farther from Earth than any humans had before, breaking the distance record set by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970.”
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cross reference SUPPORTS — Reaching a distance of 252,756 miles from Earth, they traveled farther from our planet than humans have ever been—exceeding a record set by the crew of Apollo 13 in 1970.
https://phys.org/news/2026-04-nasa-artemis-ii-mission-redisc…
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cross reference SUPPORTS — On Monday, the crew broke the record for the farthest humans have travelled from Earth, reaching a distance of 252,756 miles, surpassing the previous record of 248,655 miles set by Apollo 13 in 1970.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/07/artemis-astr…
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cross reference SUPPORTS — The Artemis II team broke the distance record set by the 1970 Apollo 13 mission, surpassing it by more than 4,000 miles (6,000 kilometers).
https://phys.org/news/2026-04-laughter-historic-day-astronau…
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“During their flyby around the moon’s far side, the astronauts reached a distance of 252,756 miles from Earth, which was more than 4,100 miles farther than the Apollo 13 record.”
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“The mission launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.”
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cross reference SUPPORTS — Launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Artemis II mission's towering 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, topped with the astronauts' Orion crew capsule, will laun…
https://www.dw.com/en/nasas-artemis-ii-set-to-take-off-for-m…
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cross reference SUPPORTS — The astronauts – three Americans and one Canadian – took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, in front of tens of thousands of people who gathered to witness the launch of Nasa’s…
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/02/artemis-ii-a…
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cross reference SUPPORTS — Launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Artemis II mission's towering 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, topped with the astronauts' Orion crew capsule, will laun…
https://www.dw.com/en/artemis-ii-nasa-readies-to-launch-astr…
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“The Artemis II crew were the first people that NASA’s Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket had ever carried into space.”
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“Artemis II was one of the most highly anticipated space events in recent years, since it was the first time people have launched toward the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.”
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cross reference SUPPORTS — The mission is the first crewed lunar flight since Apollo 17 in 1972.
https://www.euronews.com/next/2026/03/31/humans-head-back-to…
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cross reference SUPPORTS — Hansen, Glover, Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch are the world's first lunar astronauts since Apollo 17's crew of three in 1972.
https://phys.org/news/2026-04-artemis-ii-toilet-astronauts-m…
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cross reference SUPPORTS — The first lunar explorers since Apollo 17 in 1972, Wiseman and his crew are aiming for a splashdown off the San Diego coast on Friday.
https://phys.org/news/2026-04-artemis-ii-astronauts-distance…
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“On the second day of the flight, the Orion capsule performed a key engine burn to put it on a path toward the moon.”
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“The most anticipated moment of the mission came on Monday, when the crew spent seven hours taking close-up photos of the lunar surface and observing specific sites on the moon, including impact craters, ridges and vast volcanic plains.”
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“The astronauts focused some of their observations on Orientale basin, a nearly 600-mile-wide crater that straddles the moon’s near and far sides.”
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“The crew’s high-resolution photos of features in and around the moon’s impact craters could help scientists understand how the moon formed and how its topography changed over time.”
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“The astronauts even captured dramatic images of the moon’s crater-filled south polar region, where NASA is interested in landing astronauts on future Artemis missions.”
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“Toward the end of their lunar flyby, the astronauts became the first to witness a solar eclipse from space.”
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“During the eclipse, as the moon was cloaked in darkness, the crew members spotted flashes of light from meteoroids smacking into the lunar surface.”
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“After the flyby, the astronauts began their three-day journey home to Earth. By Tuesday afternoon, the Orion capsule exited the lunar sphere of influence.”
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“During its high-stakes re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere, the Orion capsule faced extreme temperatures nearing 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.”
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“After a fiery plunge through the atmosphere, the capsule deployed its parachutes, then splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.”
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info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.