Artemis II Astronauts Use iPhone 17 Pro Max in Deep Space

Astronauts aboard NASA's Artemis II mission are using iPhone 17 Pro Max smartphones to capture striking images of Earth and the Moon from deep space, marking the first time such consumer devices have been formally certified for extended use on a crewed voyage beyond low Earth orbit.

The four-member crew, including Commander Reid Wiseman, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Mission Specialist Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, launched aboard the Orion spacecraft on a test flight that will loop around the Moon before returning to Earth on April 10. Early in the mission, on April 2, Wiseman and Koch took selfies through the spacecraft's cabin window, framing a glowing Earth against the void of space using the phone's 18-megapixel front-facing camera. Later, as the spacecraft approached the lunar surface on April 4, Wiseman used the rear telephoto lens at 8x zoom to photograph the Moon's cratered terrain, sharing the view during a live broadcast.

NASA cleared the iPhones for imaging purposes after a rigorous certification process that began in February. Each device underwent hazard assessments for microgravity, radiation, and temperature extremes, with...