NASA executed several engine firings on Thursday. The apogee raise burn sent Orion into high-Earth orbit, where the backdrop offered a striking view of the planet.

The four Artemis astronauts have passed the halfway point between Earth and the Moon on the way to their planned lunar flyby, NASA said on the evening of April 3.

The first one was described by NASA mission control at Johnson Space Center in Houston as a “reminder that no matter how far we go, we are still one world, watching, hoping and reaching higher.”