NASA confirmed that the stunning images of Earth taken from space were taken with an iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Recently, NASA released a picture that might be among the best iPhone commercials ever. Astronauts are sharing amazing sights of Earth while the Artemis II team is now its route to a flyby around the Moon. A picture of Earth taken from one of the windows of the Orion spacecraft en route to the Moon was posted on NASA’s Instagram account. NASA said that an iPhone 17 Pro Max was used to take the captivating picture in response to questions from consumers.

Many space aficionados were not surprised that the photos were taken with an iPhone because, approximately four hours into the flight, spectators had already noticed a silver iPhone floating close to a camera monitoring the Artemis II spacecraft’s cockpit. It was anticipated that photos taken with the iPhone will soon be available online. The fact that NASA first let iPhones on the space mission, however, shocked a lot of people.

Apple has denied being involved in NASA’s certification process, despite the fact that many claim this is just another level of iPhone marketing. Nevertheless, given NASA’s stringent regulations about what gear may be sent into space, this is a significant accomplishment for Apple.

Because of this procedure, astronauts have long relied on GoPro Hero 11 cameras, which were debuted in 2022, and Nikon D5 cameras, which were introduced in 2016. Although smartphones have previously traveled to space on private missions, NASA has never before permitted iPhones to be used by astronauts on space missions. 

Many have questioned why NASA accepted iPhones for the journey given the drawn-out review procedure, the dangers of permitting new technologies, and the absence of internet connectivity in space. This is the solution. Astronauts are not supposed to use iPhones to play games or communicate with their loved ones while in orbit. Rather, these gadgets are being deployed to record the mission and capture significant moments.“We are giving our crews the tools to capture special moments for their families and share inspiring images and video with the world,” NASA administrator Jared Isaacman 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.”