- Artemis II astronauts have snapped the Moon with their iPhones
- The photos were shown off during a NASA livestream
- More images continue to be shared as the Orion spacecraft heads home
Having circled around the Moon, the crew of the Artemis II are now heading back home – and spectacular photos taken by the astronauts on board the Orion spacecraft, with their iPhone 17 Pro Max handsets, keep on coming.
This time, it's a picture of the lunar surface snapped by mission commander Reid Wiseman that we're marveling over. The image was shown off during a NASA livestream and posted to social media (via 9to5Google).
While the post below mentions the iPhone 17 Pro, we know that the astronauts were in fact given iPhone 17 Pro Max models, and those are the phones that are mentioned in the metadata linked to the images that NASA has shared so far.
Other details that have emerged over the snap are that it was taken using the iPhone's 8x zoom mode, and that it shows the Chebyshev crater on the far side of the Moon. The Orion has made use of the Moon's gravity to turn around and head back to Earth.
GoPros and Nikons
Astronaut Reid Wiseman captured this stunning image of the Moon using nothing more than an iPhone 17 Pro.the same camera that fits in your pocket. pic.twitter.com/mZevaDhhITApril 6, 2026
Wiseman and his colleagues will now have some pretty stunning phone wallpapers to show off when they get back home — as yet we don't have the original shot of the lunar surface, just the screengrab taken from NASA's livestream.
The iPhones given to the astronauts on Orion were being put to use shortly after launch, and no doubt Apple will be pleased by the publicity. We know the crew also has a GoPro and a couple of Nikon cameras on board.
Reactions on Reddit have ranged from a simple "wild" to the observation that "that would be my phone wallpaper for the rest of my life" — plus a note that "Apple are sorted for adverts for the next decade after this".
Having set a new record for going the furthest distance away from our planet than anyone has ever traveled before, the astronauts are expected to get back this coming Friday, April 10, via a splash down off the coast of San Diego.
