Artemis II’s Moon Photos and Astronaut Notes Are Now Public

There’s something special about seeing the Moon through an astronaut’s eyes. Now we can dig into what the Artemis II crew saw, photographed, and talked about during their journey around it.

On October 7, NASA released more than 800 gigabytes of lunar science data to the public. That includes over 11,000 full-resolution images and video, 8.5 hours of recorded scientific observations, and images marked up with handwritten crew notes.

It’s not just a collection of beautiful Moon pictures. It’s a record of people watching, noticing, and making decisions in real time.

What’s in the collection?

The material comes from the crew’s handheld cameras and cameras aboard the Orion spacecraft. Alongside the imagery are audio recordings and annotated images that help explain what the astronauts were looking at.

NASA has uploaded the collection to its Planetary Data System, a public archive for planetary mission data. Scientists can study it, and the rest of us can explore it too.

Three accompanying publications provide more context: the Artemis II Preliminary Lunar Science Report, the Lunar Science Operations Report, and the Lunar Science Data User Guide. They explain the observations, how the science work was planned, and how to use the data.

Why having people there matters

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, trained in lunar geography, geology, and observation techniques before the mission.

During the flyby, they could choose targets, adjust what they photographed, and discuss subtle colors and changes as they happened. Their observations add a human perspective to decades of information gathered by Apollo crews and robotic spacecraft.

NASA describes this as the first planetary science dataset captured primarily by humans in more than half a century.

That’s the part that catches my attention. A photograph shows a scene. Hearing someone describe what they’re noticing adds another layer.

Handwritten notes from a lunar flyby

One of the images NASA shared shows crew annotations over a visualization of the Moon eclipsing the Sun during the April 6 flyby.

Wiseman, Glover, and Hansen used different colors to mark observed impact flashes and their locations. The notes also identify observations that may have been the same events seen at different times.

Crew annotations mark impact observations around the darkened Moon. The notes suggest the circled observations likely show the same impacts. Credit: NASA/CSA.

Handwritten notes label two lunar regions “brown” and “greenish,” recording perceived color differences.

It’s a fascinating look at the work behind the images. Not just a polished final picture, but the questions and observations being recorded along the way.

How to explore the Artemis II data

NASA’s release page is the starting point for finding the data and supporting reports.

Explore NASA’s Artemis II lunar science release

These observations are already helping inform NASA’s plans for Artemis III and beyond. For now, they also give us a chance to look more closely at a journey around our nearest neighbor.

I’m looking forward to spending some time with the images. There’s a lot of Moon to explore.

Source: NASA, “NASA Releases Artemis II Lunar Science Data, Images,” published October 7, 2026.

Featured photo caption: NASA astronauts Christina Koch (below) and Victor Glover (above) share a window inside Orion during the Artemis II lunar flyby on April 6, 2026. Photo: NASA.