NASA Spacecraft Captures a Family Portrait of Earth and the Moon

A NASA spacecraft travelling towards Mars has looked back and captured a striking family portrait of Earth and the Moon.

The photographs were taken on 3 July 2026 by one of NASA’s two ESCAPADE spacecraft. At the time, it was around 363,000 miles from Earth and 115,000 miles from the Moon.

From that unusual viewpoint, the two worlds appear close together against the darkness of space.

Only around eight per cent of the side facing the camera was illuminated by the Sun, causing both Earth and the Moon to appear as narrow crescents.

The spacecraft also photographed the pair using thermal infrared light, which detects heat rather than visible sunlight. In this image, Earth appears much brighter because its atmosphere and oceans retain heat.

The Moon, without an atmosphere or oceans to provide insulation, appears considerably colder and darker.

Although the images make an impressive addition to NASA’s photo collection, they also served a practical purpose. Earth and the Moon are well understood, so photographing them allowed the ESCAPADE team to test and calibrate the spacecraft’s cameras before reaching Mars.

ESCAPADE will use the same equipment to study the Martian atmosphere and search for auroras. The two spacecraft are expected to use Earth’s gravity to begin their journey towards Mars in November 2026, arriving in September 2027.

For now, the photograph offers a rare view of our home planet and its nearest neighbour travelling together through space.

Image from NASA ESCAPADE spacecraft

This is the official NASA ESCAPADE image showing Earth on the left and the Moon on the right.

Image credit: NASA/UCB-SSL/NAU-Radiant/Lucin

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