NASA's Artemis II crew just saw a 57-minute total solar eclipse from the far side of the moon. NASA's next eclipse comes in 2045 during the "Greatest American Eclipse."

Though a rare sight, it's not the first time a solar eclipse has been viewed from lunar realms. The Apollo astronauts, who orbited the moon rather than flew by it (as Artemis 2 did), also saw solar eclipses, NASA's Kelsey Young, Artemis science flight operations lead, said during a press conference on Saturday (April 4).

The Artemis II crew lifted off at 6:35 p.m. ET on Wednesday, April 1.

During the mission's loop around the moon, the crew took geological observations of places of interest on the lunar surface, snapping thousands of photos of the surface.

The Artemis II crew of NASA astronauts Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen pose with their eclipse glasses used to protect their eyes for the Orion spacecraft's flyby of the Moon April 6,