The four astronauts aboard the Integrity spacecraft now headed home from their\u00a0historic arc around the moon<\/a>\u00a0really are like the rest of us: Sometimes they reach for their smartphones<\/span><\/a><\/span> to snap photos.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For the Artemis II mission, iPhone 17 Pro Max<\/span><\/a><\/span> phones have been used to capture photos inside the capsule of the astronauts pondering the views of Earth and working on mission objectives. (Technically, NASA refers to them as PCDs \u2013 personal computing devices.)<\/p>\n Smartphones were\u00a0cleared for use in space<\/a>\u00a0for the first time in February. In a\u00a0post on X<\/a>, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman wrote, “We are giving our crews the tools to capture special moments for their families and share inspiring images and video with the world.”<\/p>\n <\/div> Artemis II mission commander Reid Wiseman looks out the window at Earth. The photo was taken with an iPhone 17 Pro Max.<\/p>\n <\/span> NASA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Early in the mission, Commander Reid Wiseman snapped a pair<\/a> of photos<\/a> looking out the window with Earth behind him. Mission specialist Christina Koch<\/a> and her dynamic curls in zero-gravity also captured a pensive view looking out over the planet. All three were made using the front camera — because wouldn’t you want to grab a selfie if you were in space?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/div> Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch looks out the window at Earth.<\/p>\n <\/span> NASA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n The iPhone 17 Pro’s rear cameras are pulling their own weight during the mission, too. During the live broadcast as the crew approached the moon, Wiseman took a photo of the moon’s surface<\/a> using the iPhone’s telephoto camera at 8x zoom. He turned the screen toward one of the video cameras mounted inside the spacecraft, creating an image of the moon’s surface alone against the darkness of the unlit cabin, with the iPhone’s signature rounded edges and Dynamic Island cutout at the top.<\/p>\n <\/div> Artemis II mission commander Reid Wiseman holds up his iPhone 17 Pro Max showing a photo of the moon he captured using the telephoto camera at 8x zoom.<\/p>\n <\/span> NASA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n The main photo workhorses on this trip are a Nikon D5 DSLR and a Nikon Z9. The D5 is a model that has been used on several space excursions, and the Z9 is onboard as an experimental camera.<\/p>\n For NASA missions, every piece of equipment must be tested and certified, which is why the previously-approved D5 has a secure spot. Cameras must be resistent to space environmental factors like radiation, and safe if they’re floating around the capsule. However, the iPhones in space now are off-the-shelf models, according to a\u00a0report by Jackie Watties of CNN<\/a>.<\/p>\n The moon flyby was especially photo-intensive, with astronauts switching places several times so that two were always at windows with cameras and relating what they could see with their eyes. This photo<\/a> of mission specialist and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen taking images using one of the Nikon cameras shows how some windows have camera shrouds attached. The shroud ensures that light from the interior isn’t reflected in the glass.<\/p>\n <\/div> Artemis II mission specialist Jeremy Hansen takes photos of the moon through a window shroud using a Nikon camera. The picture of him was captured using an iPhone 17 Pro Max.<\/p>\n <\/span> NASA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n
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