Man in the moon! NASA’s Artemis II crew snap a smiley face

NASA’s Artemis II astronauts have snapped a photo of a huge crater on the dark side of the moon – but viewers can only see one thing. 

‘The Artemis II crew captured this image showing the rings of the Orientale basin during their lunar flyby on April 6,’ NASA explained on X.

‘At the 10 o’clock position of the Orientale basin, the two smaller craters – which the Artemis II crew has suggested be named Integrity & Carroll – are visible.’

After posting the photo to X, NASA has been inundated with replies from fans who claim the Orientale Basin resembles a smiley face. 

‘Cute like a hippo,’ one user replied, alongside a zoomed in photo of the basin. 

Another added: ‘A smile from the moon it is.’

And one joked: ‘It appears highly probably that this is Doraemon,’ in reference to the Japanese manga character.

To the left of the smiley face, you’ll also see Carroll – a ‘bright spot’ on the moon that the Artemis II crew have asked to be named after commander Reid Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll.

The stunning image was released just hours after NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, became the first people to travel around the far side of the moon in over 50 years.

During their six–hour lunar flyby, the Artemis II crew reached a distance of more than 252,756 miles (406,771km) from Earth, surpassing the distance achieved by the Apollo missions and setting a new record.

In doing so, they became the first humans in half a decade to witness the far side of the moon with the naked eye.

From their position 41,072 miles (66,098km) above the lunar surface, the moon appeared about as large as a basketball held at arm’s length.

Whether it’s on the moon or in toast, we often see faces in inanimate objects thanks to a phenomenon called face pareidolia.

This is a form of apophenia, when people see patterns in random, unconnected data.

There have been multiple occasions when people have claimed to see religious images and themes in unexpected places. 

On the Red Planet, one of the most famous is the ‘face on Mars’ spotted by one of the Viking orbiters in 1976.

This was later proven to just be a chance alignment of shifting sand dunes. 

Having passed the moon, the Orion crew capsule will now ride the tug of Earth’s gravity back home over the coming days, with splashdown expected on Friday.

Their final ordeal will be a blazing re–entry into the planet’s atmosphere, as the capsule hits the atmosphere at around 25,000 miles per hour (40,200 km/h) before deploying its parachutes and landing in the Pacific Ocean.

Thankfully, the latest weather predictions suggest that Artemis II will have favourable conditions for reentry.

According to AccuWeather, the southern coast of California will see winds of only seven to 14 miles per hour (11 to 22 km/h) and waves no larger than five feet.

John Feerick, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist, says: ‘Mission controllers and recovery crews at sea will be watching conditions closely up to splashdown. 

‘NASA says there can be no rain or thunderstorms within 30 nautical miles of the recovery site. 

‘Waves should be under six feet, and winds need to stay below 25 knots for the recovery boats.’