NASAThe Artemis II crew—(clockwise from left) mission specialist Christina Koch, mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, commander Reid Wiseman, and pilot Victor Glover—take time out for a group hug inside the Orion spacecraft on their way home to Earth on April 7, 2026. Following a swing around the far side of the moon on April 6, 2026, the crew exited the lunar sphere of influence (the point at which the moon’s gravity has a stronger pull on Orion than the Earth’s) on April 7 and are headed back to Earth for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on April 10. The crew was selected in April 2023, and have been training together for their mission for the past three years.NASAThe moon, backlit by the sun during a solar eclipse, is photographed by crew members aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft on April 6, 2026, during the Artemis II mission. Orion is visible in the foreground on the left. Earth is reflecting sunlight at the left edge of the moon, which is slightly brighter than the rest of the disk. The bright spot visible just below the moon’s bottom right edge is Saturn. Beyond that, the bright spot at the right edge of the image is Mars.George Chan / AAP Image / ReutersPeople enjoy the sunset at Milk Beach in Sydney on April 9, 2026.Lindsey Wasson / APA hummingbird gathers moss to make a nest in a blooming Yoshino cherry tree at the University of Washington in Seattle, on April 5, 2026.Matthias Bein / DPA / GettyA woman stands in front of an Easter bonfire on Maundy Thursday, forming a heart with her hands, in Westdorf, a district of Aschersleben, Germany, on April 2, 2026.Olympia De Maismont / AFP / GettyPeople gather around the Amazon Monument in Cotonou, Benin, on April 6, 2026. The monument stands 30 meters (98 ft) tall, and was completed in 2022.Igor Ivanko / AFP / GettyMaintenance workers clean the monument of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in Moscow on April 8, 2026.Stefano Rellandini / AFP / GettyA string quartet performs as more than 1,000 drones form a figure in the sky during the DroneArt show in Milan, on April 2, 2026.Gary Hershorn / GettyGeese fly past the Statue of Liberty and the skyline of Brooklyn in New York City as the sun rises on April 4, 2026, as seen from Jersey City, New Jersey.Deng Daoli / VCG / GettyAn aerial view of mist and clouds shrouding the 326-meter-tall Bailong Elevator at Zhangjiajie National Forest Park after a rainfall on April 9, 2026, in China’s Hunan provinceMartin Meissner / APCherry blossoms shine in the sun at Rheinpark in Cologne, Germany, on a warm and sunny day, April 9, 2026.Evan Vucci / ReutersPresident Trump speaks beside the Easter Bunny during the 2026 White House Easter Egg Roll in Washington, D.C., on April 6, 2026.Sergei Gapon / AFP / GettyBachelors wearing traditional straw costumes parade through the streets and splash water on villagers in a ritual for fertility and a bountiful harvest as they celebrate Easter Monday in Dobra, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland, on April 6, 2026.Martin Meissner / APTwo camels show their teeth at the zoo in Cologne, Germany, on April 9, 2026.Michael Bahlo / DPA / GettyA traditional Easter bonfire in Trechwitz, Brandenburg, Germany, on April 4, 2026. For the bonfire, themed “The Unsinkable 2,” members of a local leisure and youth club built a model of the Titanic out of logs.Dario Belingheri / GettyA view of the peloton prior to the 110th Tour of Flanders on April 5, 2026, in Antwerp, Belgium.Yasunari Itayama / The Yomiuri Shimbun / ReutersA Japanese Shiden Kai fighter plane is salvaged from the seabed off the coast of Akune City, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan and Kyushu Island region, on April 8, 2026. This aircraft flew out to intercept American B-29 bombers during World War II but was hit during combat and made an emergency landing in the sea. The fighter plane sat at the bottom of the sea for 81 years, but its engine, wings, and twin 20-millimeter cannons remain. There is a plan to display it to preserve the memory of the war.Kawnat Haju / AFP / GettyA fireball rises from a building hit by an Israeli air strike in the area of Abbasiyeh, on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, on April 8, 2026. Lebanon’s army warned people against returning to the country’s south on April 8, where the Israeli military was still launching attacks, as Israel said the cease-fire with Iran did not include its conflict with Hezbollah.Jack Guez / AFP / GettyMissile trails are seen in the sky above Netanya, Israel, on April 8, 2026. Israel’s military issued two warnings in quick succession early Wednesday that Iran had fired missiles toward it, moments after President Trump said he had agreed to postpone striking Iranian infrastructure.Peter Parks / AFP / GettyAn aerial photo shows relatives tending to a grave at Diamond Hill Cemetery in Hong Kong on April 3, 2026, as people visit cemeteries to honor their ancestors during the annual Tomb-Sweeping Day festival known locally in Hong Kong as Ching Ming.Wu Jiquan / VCG / GettyAn aerial view of a sunrise over a photovoltaic-power installation in Linyi, Shandong province, China, on April 8, 2026Ina Fassbender / AFP / GettyAn aerial view shows blooming cherry trees at the Heerstrasse in Bonn, Germany, on April 8, 2026.Lindsey Wasson / APChildren climb a blooming cherry tree at the University of Washington, on April 5, 2026, in Seattle.Carl de Souza / AFP / GettyA bird flies as steam rises from a lake in Chapultepec Park in Mexico City on April 2, 2026.Jorge Silva / ReutersAn Indigenous Pataxo man takes part in a ritual dance during the Acampamento Terra Livre (“Free Land”) camp, as they protest and demand the demarcation of Indigenous lands and defend constitutional and cultural rights, in Brasília, Brazil, on April 8, 2026.Isabel Infantes / ReutersBinnie and his brothers Kenny and Johnny celebrate winning a special rosette during the London Horse Harness Parade, an event bringing together more than 100 horse-drawn vehicles and carriages, in Ardingly, West Sussex, England, on April 6, 2026.Mohammad Ponir Hossain / ReutersA girl plays with a baby goat in Manikganj, Bangladesh, on April 8, 2026.
