First photo from far side of the moon released - as Artemis II heads home

The White House has released the first photo of the far side of the moon taken by the Artemis II crew as their groundbreaking mission on the Orion spacecraft is now coming to an end.

The picture, shared on X and dated April 6, was captioned: "Humanity, from the other side. First photo from the far side of the Moon. Captured from Orion as Earth dips beyond the lunar horizon."

The astronauts made history by travelling a record-breaking 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometres) away from Earth on Monday evening, with Nasa adding in a statement: "At this distance, the Moon will appear to the astronauts about the size of a basketball held at arm’s length.

"They also may be the first humans to see some parts of the Moon’s far side with the unaided eye."

Read more: Artemis II astronauts catch first glimpse of Moon's far side 'never seen with human eyes'

Read more: Artemis II begins journey home after reaching record distance from Earth

The record was achieved during a seven-hour lunar flyby, which included a 40-minute communication blackout as they passed around the far side of the Moon from Earth.

Apollo 13’s previous record was 248,655 miles (400,171 kilometres) from Earth in April 1970.

During the blackout, the astronauts reached their closest point to the Moon at 4,067 miles (6,545 kilometres).

The crew, made up of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, began their moon-bound mission on Thursday (April 2) and are now finally heading home after travelling further from Earth than anyone before.

Today, the spacecraft will begin to be pulled back to Earth by our planet's gravitational field. Once back, the crew will speak to astronauts on the International Space Station.

According to reports, the next mission update is expected at 21:30 BST.