Astronaut from the Artemis II team captured the Moon using an iPhone

Short about the event During the final approach of the Artemis II spacecraft to the Moon, the crew demonstrated a photo of the lunar surface taken on an iPhone 17 Pro Max by commander Reed Wyazman. This is the first time NASA has allowed astronauts to use modern smartphones during flight.

What they did in recent days – The crew posted photos taken with several devices:

- iPhone 17 Pro Max (four units)
- GoPro HERO 4 Black
- Nikon D5 and Nikon Z 9

All images were uploaded to the team’s Flickr account.

During the approach to the Moon, astronauts took turns photographing the view from the Orion capsule’s porthole to show Earth what they see.

How the “amazing” shot was made – To improve quality, the camera was used in complete cabin darkness.

- Reed Wyazman approached the broadcast camera and showed a photo taken at 8× zoom.
- The crater Chebyshev is visible in the frame; the full version of the photograph has not yet been released.

Thus, the Artemis II team used both traditional photographic systems and the latest smartphone to capture details of the lunar surface during the Moon approach.