The crew list for the Artemis II includes a commander, pilot, and two mission specialists – but while “photographer” may not be one of the titles, photography was very much part of the first human mission to the Moon in more than 50 years. Artemis II photographs are the intersection of science and art, serving as both a tool for observations and iconic works of art at the same time.
During the livestream of the flyby around the dark side of the Moon, the Artemis II crew estimated they had taken around 10,000 photos of the Moon. NASA says that the Orion has 32 cameras on board – eliminating the cameras that are fixed in place, the crew has 17 photo-taking devices to work with. That includes the main camera, a Nikon D5 DSLR, along with a Nikon Z9 mirrorless camera, GoPros, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max.
