SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
Mike Olason
Location of Photo:
Tucson, Arizona
Date/Time of photo:
2026 April 2, 1135UT
Equipment:
50mm f/5 Refractor and IMX462 camera
Description:
On the morning of 2026 April 2 the Artemis II Orion Capsule and ICPS (Second Stage Booster) were 25 degrees above Tucson to the south with the Full Moon 60 degrees to the west. They were about 44,000 miles above Earth near the farthest distance from Earth in their high-Earth elliptical orbit. The ICPS was magnitude 14, about 2.5 times brighter than the Orion Capsule which was magnitude 15. The ICPS remained attached to the bottom of the Orion capsule after launch to perform perigee and apogee burns to get the Orion Capsule into its high-Earth elliptical orbit before separating from the capsule, after separation the astronauts used the ICPS as a target to practice proximity operations and manual maneuvering of the Orion capsule while still in Earth orbit.
