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Audiences were captivated by a mesmerizing video that made waves online. The stunning footage, captured by Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman using nothing more than his iPhone, left viewers in awe.
The video, which has garnered over 12 million views on X, presents a breathtaking scene: Earth gracefully setting behind the rugged silhouette of its lunar companion. This extraordinary perspective underscores the rare and privileged position of the Artemis II mission.
In the video, Wiseman can be heard marveling at the sight, exclaiming, “Would you look at that, man?” His words capture the sense of wonder shared by many who have viewed the clip.
Accompanying the video, Wiseman’s caption poignantly notes the singular opportunity to capture such a moment, emphasizing the rarity of experiencing such a view in one’s lifetime.
In the caption, the spaceman wrote that he had “only one chance in this lifetime” to get a shot like that.
“I couldn’t resist a cell phone video of Earthset,” said Wiseman, who compared the moment to “watching sunset at the beach from the most foreign seat in the cosmos.”
Why shoot one of the most incredible spectacles on the humble iPhone?
“I could barely see the moon through the docking hatch window,” Wiseman explained, “but the iPhone was the perfect size to catch the view.”
In addition, the clip is “uncropped, uncut with 8x zoom,” making it on par with the “view of the human eye.”
X viewers were impressed with the shot, with retired astronaut Chris Hadfield dubbing it the “coolest video ever taken with an iPhone.”
“Seeing an iPhone recording of the moon really humanizes the whole experience,” said another fan, with one observer noting that it was the “farthest a consumer smartphone has ever been from Earth.”
“Roughly 250,000 miles away, handheld through a docking hatch window, at 8x zoom with no modifications,” they wrote.
The mission, which ended with splashdown on April 10, marked the first time humans had seen the moon up close since Apollo 17 left it in 1972.
During the historic jaunt, the spacecraft ferried Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen 252,756 miles from Earth on Monday, shattering the 248,655-mile record set by Apollo 13 nearly 56 years ago to the date in 1970.
NASA will now focus on reviewing data from the Artemis II mission before creating plans for Artemis III, which, much like the recent endeavor, will comprise a pass of the moon without a landing.
A potential lunar touchdown will occur in 2028 with Artemis IV, during which astronauts are projected to lay the foundation for a permanent moon base.
NASA predicts it will act as a launchpad for future space missions, including one to Mars.