Artemis II astronauts using iPhone 17 Pro Max to snap photos

On the first mission to the moon since 1972, an iPhone 17 Pro Max floated by a camera overlooking the cockpit of the Artemis II spacecraft.

In a rare occurrence, NASA permitted astronauts to fly with smartphones. NASA gave each astronaut an iPhone 17 Pro Max for taking photos and videos. So far, the astronauts have used their handsets to capture content through the window of the spacecraft.

This view just hits different 🌍
@Astro_Christina and @astro_reid take a moment to look back at Earth as they continue deep into space toward the Moon. pic.twitter.com/NMDeLj256K

— NASA (@NASA) April 4, 2026

“We are giving our crews the tools to capture special moments for their families and share inspiring images and video with the world,” Jared Isaacman, the NASA administrator, said in a social media post in February. “Just as important, we challenged longstanding processes and qualified modern hardware for spaceflight on an expedited timeline.”

NASA astronauts will soon fly with the latest smartphones, beginning with Crew-12 and Artemis II. We are giving our crews the tools to capture special moments for their families and share inspiring images and video with the world. Just as important, we challenged long-standing…

— NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (@NASAAdmin) February 5, 2026

NASA also gave astronauts two Nikon D5s cameras and four GoPro Hero 11s. Space crews don’t usually bring these devices with them on their spacecraft. NASA has a process for approving hardware for spaceflight that’s pretty lengthy. It includes four phases: introducing the hardware to a safety panel, identifying potential hazards of the hardware, laying out a plan for addressing these hazards, and proving this plan works.

This lengthy process is to keep astronauts safe, considering when material shatters, it doesn’t just stay on the ground; it floats around everywhere.

One last look at Earth before we reach the Moon.

This view of the Earth was captured on April 5, the fourth day of the Artemis II mission, from inside the Orion spacecraft. The four astronauts will reach their closest approach of the Moon tomorrow, April 6. pic.twitter.com/z2NJUGWkKc

— NASA (@NASA) April 5, 2026

Apple reportedly had nothing to do with NASA’s approval process for bringing iPhones on the Artemis II mission. It was also the first time an iPhone qualified for extended use in space. However, it’s not the first time an iPhone was brought into space.

Smartphones have been brought into space during private space missions. An iPhone was brought on the Inspiration4 mission, operated by SpaceX, to take a photo of the Earth. And in 2011, the crew of space shuttle mission STS-135 brought two iPhone 4s handsets as an experiment.

You can view the Artemis II iPhone photos at the following Flickr links: (1), (2), (3).

Header image credit: NASA

Via: The New York Times