Artemis II Mission: Astronaut Captures Earth’s Glow with iPhone, Stuns Internet with Stunning Space Video

NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman captured a video of Earth setting behind the Moon using his personal iPhone during the Artemis II mission, offering a rare view of our planet disappearing from sight in deep space.

The footage, recorded on April 6, 2026, shows Earth slowly vanishing behind the lunar horizon as Wiseman and his crewmates flew around the Moon’s far side. He described the moment as “like watching sunset at the beach from the most foreign seat in the cosmos” and noted it was “only one chance in this lifetime.”

Wiseman used an iPhone 17 Pro Max to record the unedited clip with 8x zoom, which he said closely matches the natural field of view of the human eye. The video was shared on his social media accounts, including X and Instagram, where it quickly gained attention for its striking perspective of Earth and the Moon.

During the same lunar flyby, the Artemis II crew observed a solar eclipse from orbit, using protective eyewear similar to those distributed for the 2023 annular and 2024 total solar eclipses on Earth. The mission marked the first time humans have seen much of the Moon’s far side with their own eyes.

Artemis II launched on April 1, 2026, carrying Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. After spending 10 days in space, including time in lunar orbit, the crew returned to Earth on April 10, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.

The mission set a new record for human spaceflight, traveling 4,111 miles farther from Earth than the Apollo 13 mission did in 1970. Throughout the journey, the astronauts documented the Moon’s terrain, capturing images of ancient lava flows, surface cracks, and ridges formed over billions of years.