Apple Highlights Photos Shot on iPhone During NASA's Mission to Moon

[MacRumors]

As we previously reported, astronauts aboard NASA's Orion spacecraft used the iPhone 17 Pro Max to take selfies of themselves with the Earth in the background during the Artemis II mission around the far side of the Moon last week.

Now that the crew members have safely returned to Earth, Apple's CEO Tim Cook and marketing chief Greg Joswiak have both turned to social media to congratulate them on their successful mission and highlight the iPhone's involvement.

"You captured the wonders of space and our planet beautifully, taking iPhone photography to new heights, and we're grateful you shared it with the world," wrote Cook. "Your work continues to inspire us all to think different. Welcome home!"

https://twitter.com/x/status/2042776580712444088

"Honored that NASA astronauts brought iPhone to space with them," said Joswiak. "One small step for iPhone. One giant leap for space selfies."

In February, NASA announced that the iPhone had been fully qualified for extended use in orbit, with reports indicating that each of the four crew members aboard the Orion were equipped with an iPhone 17 Pro Max for personal photos and videos.

The photos show Artemis II's Commander Reid Wiseman and Mission Specialist Christina Koch looking back at Earth through one of the Orion's main cabin windows. Flickr data indicates that these photos were shot with the iPhone 17 Pro Max's front-facing camera on April 2, which was the second day of the mission.

Shot on iPhone 17 Pro Max (Wiseman)​

Shot on iPhone 17 Pro Max (Koch)​

Most other photos from the mission shared so far were captured with other cameras, such as the Nikon D5, Nikon Z 9, and GoPro HERO4 Black.

Shot on Nikon D5​

Shot on Nikon D5​

Artemis II was NASA's first crewed mission to the Moon since 1972. The crew reached the far side of the Moon on Monday, breaking the all-time record for the farthest distance traveled from Earth by humans. However, the Orion does not have landing capabilities, so it was a flyby mission only. The spacecraft returned to Earth on Friday.

Article Link: Apple Highlights Photos Shot on iPhone During NASA's Mission to Moon

 

[OliOliOliOli]

In the end, it’s flat.

 

[boswald]

I can't imagine the adrenaline rush one must have to blast off and see your planet like that.

 

[mlayer]

The US has seen enough space mission disasters to know not to count their chickens before they hatch. There's plenty of time to market the crap out of this now that the mission is successfully completed.

 

[klasma]

Actual use of iPhone on the mission:

 

[ZipZilla]

A major coup for Apple. Bravo!

 

[code-m]

Those 17 PM photos look overblown brightness compared to the D5 to me.

 

[jz0309]

awesome photos and successful mission! Well done.

 

[tennisproha]

Incredible photos from Artemis so far. Can’t wait to see the videos they release.

 

[Frantisekj]

I can't imagine the adrenaline rush one must have to blast off and see your planet like that

I can imagine that. Like that😃

 

[EM2013]

Wish they would’ve taken some with the back camera. The last two pics look insane

 

[boswald]

I wish I could set foot on the moon at least once!

 

[CrapShack]

Too bad Apple didn't offer a VisionPro for a 3D experience. Maybe a VisionPro will go to the Moon for the landing mission. Make for a great demo experience in the stores.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

The US has seen enough space mission disasters to know not to count their chickens before they hatch. There's plenty of time to market the crap out of this now that the mission is successfully completed.

Aren’t space missions supposed to just last for a few hours and end up scattered over the Indian Ocean? I know they shouldn’t do that to people, but that’s why they shouldn’t have people on them in the first place! 10 long days for a return to earth? I know a certain OTHER organization that could beat THAT return to earth by DAYS!

AND we usually get a good HD video of the folks at mission control applauding as it falls to pieces. NASA’s going to have to do better. /s

 

[Unregistered 4U]

A major coup for Apple. Bravo!

I wonder if that was a stock device or mission hardened?

EDIT: I just noticed that the icon used for the iPhone still shows a years old model with a home button. 🙂

 

[whitby]

Very happy that the astronauts carried a personal photo device with them, and just as glad we were not depending on the over processed low quality results of a smart phone as a definitive document of this amazing achievement. Great to see that them document life on the Integrity space craft with their iPhones but the photos of the moon and earth taken with the Nikon D5 and Z9 are truly mind blowing.

 

[larrylaffer]

Those 17 PM photos look overblown brightness compared to the D5 to me.

Comparing a smartphone to a professional camera that costs thousands of dollars is kinda unfair

 

[switz]

They needed to save the upgrade Pro type cameras for the important shots like details of the Lunar surface for possible landing sites and future cross country explorations. The iPhones were the "also on board" as adequate devices for crew member personal use.

It still is an unbeatable marketing coup/opportunity for Apple as it will be at least another year before there may be another manned flight in that direction. We will now be swamped with Apple adds that "Are out of this World!".

 

[JohnC1959]

Those 17 PM photos look overblown brightness compared to the D5 to me.

It's really hard to tell how much is the camera from these though. On either camera one can choose options to impact brightness and other attributes.

 

[Tig_one]

If anything the Nikon shots puts them to shame.

 

[JohnC1959]

If anything the Nikon shots puts them to shame.

But then that's fully expected. By the way, I noticed formula one cars are much faster than my car.

 

[257Loner]

You mean to tell me the U.S. spent $4 billion on the Artemis II lunar observation mission and yet couldn't find another $20,000+ for a Hasselblad Medium Format digital camera system to properly photograph the Earth and the Moon from space? 🤦‍♂️

 

[diblasio]

I’ve always dreamed of going to space so I can take a chin selfie!

 

[johnsawyercjs]

You mean to tell me the U.S. spent $4 billion on the Artemis II lunar observation mission and yet couldn't find another $20,000+ for a Hasselblad Medium Format digital camera system to properly photograph the Earth and the Moon from space? 🤦‍♂️

Apollo left them all on the Moon

 

[johnsawyercjs]

It's really hard to tell how much is the camera from these though. On either camera one can choose options to impact brightness and other attributes.

Yeah, the EXIF data for the photos taken with the iPhones shows that the astronauts used just the default Camera app settings. They might have gotten better-looking shots if they had fine-tuned the settings, but the point might have been to see how well the iPhones did with those standard settings. Not sure the astronauts had enough time or mindspace available to include knowing how to fine-tune the iPhone's Camera app, given everything else they had to get right.

It wouldn't surprise me if they used the D5's standard settings too.