Artemis 2 moon astronauts snap gorgeous shot of swirling stars | Space photo of the day for May 18, 2026

NASA's Artemis 2 astronauts had quite the view on their "roadtrip" to the moon.

In this image, captured by the astronauts onboard the mission's Orion capsule "Integrity," you can see the swirling stars of space from the window as the crew journeyed from our home planet to the moon.

What is it?

This past April, four astronauts — commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Christina Koch of NASA and Canadian Space Agency mission specialist Jeremy Hansen — blasted off on a 10-day journey around the moon and back as part of NASA's Artemis 2 mission.

The quartet flew in an Orion capsule that they named "Integrity." This spacecraft came equipped with four windows, enough for each astronaut to have his or her own view. And you can see in this image that through these windows, the astronauts could watch the stars swirling by on their cosmic journey.

The crew successfully splashed down back on Earth in the Pacific Ocean on April 10. If all goes to plan, Artemis 2 will be followed by the Artemis 3 docking test in Earth orbit in 2027 before Artemis 4 lands humans on the moon in late 2028.

Why is it incredible?

On roadtrips on Earth, it's always fun to look out the window and watch the world pass you by. But on this journey, the view out the window was out of this world — literally.

This roadtrip snapshot also signifies something bigger: a big step forward in the journey back to the moon with Artemis. NASA's Artemis program aims to return humans to the lunar surface for the first time in over 50 years, since the agency's final Apollo mission in 1972.

But the plan isn't just to go back for a singular, celebratory landing on the lunar surface. Instead, NASA is aiming for a longer-term presence on the moon. Who knows? Future astronauts could soon be looking out their windows at the view on their way to stay at a moon base.