Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman captured Earth disappearing behind the Moon using an iPhone at 8x zoom during NASA’s historic lunar flyby.
WASHINGTON: NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman captured a striking view of Earth setting behind the Moon using an iPhone during the Artemis II mission, offering a rare perspective of the planet from deep space.
The footage was taken during the crew’s April 6 flyby of the Moon and later highlighted by NASA as an “Earthset”, a view in which Earth gradually disappears behind the lunar horizon.
Shot on an iPhone at 8x zoom
Wiseman, commander of Artemis II, recorded the video using an iPhone at 8x zoom through one of Orion’s windows.
NASA said the footage was uncropped and showed the entire Earth slowly being blocked from view as the Orion spacecraft moved behind the Moon. The effect was caused by the spacecraft’s movement rather than the Moon’s rotation.
Wiseman later explained that the phone’s compact size made it ideal for capturing the view through the docking hatch window, while fellow astronaut Christina Koch was simultaneously photographing the scene with a Nikon camera and a 400mm lens.
A modern version of Earthrise
The moment has drawn comparisons with the legendary Earthrise photograph taken during Apollo 8 in 1968.
During Artemis II, astronauts observed both Earthset and Earthrise while passing around the far side of the Moon. NASA said the crew documented lunar craters, ancient lava flows, surface fractures and other geological features during the flyby.
The mission marked humanity’s first crewed journey around the Moon in more than five decades.
Historic Artemis II mission
Artemis II carried NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, aboard the Orion spacecraft.
During the mission, the crew travelled farther from Earth than any humans before them, reaching a maximum distance of 252,756 miles from the planet.
The mission was designed to test Orion and its systems with astronauts aboard while laying the groundwork for future Artemis missions aimed at returning humans to the lunar surface.
Impact to expect
Wiseman’s iPhone video offers an unusually relatable view of deep-space exploration, showing that even consumer technology can capture extraordinary moments during human missions beyond Earth.
