Incredible photos taken from space are going viral, and everyone's saying Apple should turn them into billboards

An iPhone and a photo of the earth.

Apple's 'Shot on iPhone' billboards are among the brand's most iconic print ads, and have been showcasing the smartphone's photography prowess at scale since 2014. But speaking of scale, perhaps the best advert for the iPhone's camera has just arrived courtesy not of Apple, but NASA.

The space agency has released a series of photographs from the Artemis II mission to the Moon, taken by astronauts aboard the Orion vessel. And while many of these were taken with DSLR cameras, three of the most striking images were captured on an iPhone 17 Pro Max – making perhaps the strongest possible case for its position as the best iPhone for photography.

One of the photos taken with the iPhone 17 Pro Max's front camera (Image credit: NASA)

"NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows, looking back at Earth, as the crew travels towards the Moon," reads the caption on one of the iPhone photos uploaded to the official NASA Flickr account.

And somewhat amazingly, the photos weren't even captured on the iPhone 17 Pro Max's rear camera – these came from the less powerful single-lens front camera.

(Image credit: NASA)

Naturally, Apple fans and photography fans alike are declaring these the ultimate iPhone ad, with many arguing that Apple ought to actually run the shots as part of the Shot on iPhone billboard campaign.

I also can't stop thinking about how this might be the greatest missed opportunity in marketing history if Apple doesn't have a billboard of these saying "Shot on iPhone" lolNASA astronauts have been allowed to use their phones in space, and Commander Reid Wiseman and Mission… pic.twitter.com/1ACCBTn7QNApril 6, 2026

Apple is currently getting the best free marketing of all time: @NASA using the iPhone 17 Pro Max to capture photos of the moon. https://t.co/jKdGKxiyLKApril 6, 2026

But getting the iPhones on board wasn't as simple as it might seem. According to 9to5Mac, the devices had to pass several checks to ensure they were safe to use on the vessel, including checks for moving parts and glass that could shatter. The devices are unable to connect to WiFi or Bluetooth (hardly surprising in, you know, outer space), and can only be used to take photos.

If Apple does indeed manage to use these photos as part of a 'Shot on iPhone' campaign, it'll certainly prove a little more uplifting than Backmarket's devastating take on the concept last year.