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The Artemis II crew is on their way back to Earth after a successful fly-by of our Moon — and we've seen some stunning photos of our planet already. The astronauts on Artemis II have been using the best cameras to take these photos, and some of them have even been captured on an iPhone 17 Pro — yes, the very same that you're reading this article on right now.
We've already seen the gorgeous selfies of astronauts Christina Koch and Reid Wiseman shared by NASA on X, looking back towards our blue planet. But since then, we've also been treated to a photo of the Moon, taken by Wiseman — and it shows the far side of the Moon, which we don't see from our planet.
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
On the Artemis II livestream, Wiseman showed a stunning picture of the lunar surface on his iPhone, as you can see in the clip above. With the 8x zoom toggled, he captured the Chebyshev crater, proving that you don't need a high-end mirrorless camera to take beautiful, highly detailed astro photos.
As someone who reviews the best mirrorless cameras and spends a lot of time snapping casual pics on her Google Pixel 10 Pro XL, I'm well-versed with the latest and greatest photography gear. Smartphones have come a long way in the last decade or so, and it isn't surprising that Wiseman's iPhone 17 Pro managed to capture the aforementioned photo.
The iPhone 17 Pro is excellent for all kinds of photography, thanks to its 48MP "Pro Fusion" rear camera system, which includes 48MP main, ultra wide and 4x telephoto snappers. You also get second-generation sensor-shift optical image stabilization for its main camera which can help you get better, more steady shots even when you're zoomed in. This would have come in handy for Wiseman and the other astronauts taking photos in low-light conditions and at slow shutter speeds.
Personally, I love photographing the Moon but I have to say, I've never taken a photo as good as the one above. Of course, the biggest obstacle in the way of me doing that is I'm hundreds of thousands of miles away on Earth. Alongside seeing the Moon that up-close, I'm sure Wiseman ticked off an item on his bucket list that he probably didn't even know he had. I wonder if he had 'I'll see you on the dark side of the moon' from 'Brain Damage' by Pink Floyd playing in his head over and over again as he took that photo.
Take photos like the astronauts
The iPhone 17 Pro Max is Apple's top-end smartphone, with an excellent 48MP 8x zoom camera, nearly 18-hour battery life, and a bright 6.9-inch OLED panel that’s rated for 3,000 nits.
The Nikon D5 is the company's last-generation DSLR (the Nikon D6 is the current model), but the D5 still takes excellent images thanks to its 20.8MP CMOS sensor and amazing low-light performance.
The GoPro Hero4 Black used by Artemis II has long since been discontinued, but the Hero13 Black — GoPro's newest model — is far more capable, with a 27MP sensor capable of taking 5.3K video at 60fps and excellent stabilization.
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