Astronauts aboard NASA's Artemis II mission captured striking images of the Moon and Earth using iPhone 17 Pro Max smartphones during their recent lunar flyby. The crew, including Commander Reid Wiseman and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, also employed Nikon cameras for high-resolution shots now being released by NASA. The mission, which launched on April 1, reached a record distance from Earth and is set to splash down off California this week.
The Artemis II crew—Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen—flew their Orion spacecraft around the Moon on April 6, coming within 4,067 miles (6,545 km) of the surface. Earlier that day, the mission broke the Apollo 13 record by reaching 252,756 miles from Earth. During the flyby, around 9:35 p.m., the astronauts took turns photographing the lunar landscape, Earthrise, and a solar eclipse, describing the views as 'unreal' and 'sci-fi' to Mission Control in Houston. High-resolution images were transmitted back Monday night via an optical link and uploaded to NASA's Johnson Space Center Flickr page. NASA cleared smartphones for space use in February, allowing off-the-shelf iPhone 17 Pro Max devices—referred to as personal computing devices—aboard for the first time. Wiseman used the iPhone's 8x telephoto zoom to photograph the Moon's far side, capturing the Chebyshev crater against the dark cabin. He displayed the image during a livestream after turning off interior lights. Koch and Wiseman also took front-camera selfies with Earth in the background, while Hansen used his iPhone screen as a mirror while shaving in zero gravity. Primary imaging relied on a Nikon D5 DSLR, a veteran of prior missions, and an experimental Nikon Z9, with camera shrouds on windows to reduce glare. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman noted on X that the devices enable crews to 'capture special moments for their families and share inspiring images.' The spacecraft is now heading home for a planned splashdown in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego on April 10.
