People make ‘insane’ realisation about photos of Earth NASA shared
The Artemis II astronauts have been taking some amazing photos of Earth, made all the more amazing by the cameras they've used.
Artemis II has been a fairly resounding success thus far, apart from a couple of issues with the toilet, and is well on its way towards the Moon, where it will circle round before returning home.
The crew are set to complete their lunar flyby on Monday (6 April), at which point they will surpass the record set by Apollo 13 for the farthest distance from Earth travelled by any human mission.
They have been capturing some incredible images of their time in space and people have been mightily impressed, not least because some of them have been snapped on an iPhone.
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Images of astronauts Christina Koch and Reid Wiseman looking out of their capsule's viewing port at Earth were taken on an iPhone 17 Pro Max, NASA has explained to inquisitive minds.
Sharing the post on X, the space agency wrote: "This view just hits different."
It's left fans of space travel absolutely astonished that a gadget they might have in their pocket could be able to take an image of our entire planet in such detail.
Of course, that's not the only imaging equipment they have on board so not everything you see from Artemis II was taken by a phone.
The Orion spacecraft has 32 cameras and devices - 15 mounted onto it and 17 handheld cameras operated by the astronauts.
Still, it's quite incredible that you could hold a tool to stage your own space photoshoot, though you'll need a functioning spaceship and the means to launch it, which will likely be the more expensive part of the operation.
Being in a position to take such pictures puts the astronauts in line for something called the 'overview effect', where a person in space experiences a profound shift in their perspective that comes from looking down on Earth from above.
The entire planet in their sight, with hardly any evidence of human activity below, does things to the mind, and many of the Artemis II crew know all about that as they've been into space before.
For those who can't get into space, these images the astronauts are taking are the next best thing, a chance to see our planet from a new perspective and realise that when viewed from the vastness of space, we really are just stuck on a small bit of rock with nothing else but each other.
Earlier this year, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman explained why the astronauts would be taking smartphones with them into space.
He wrote on X: "We are giving our crews the tools to capture special moments for their families and share inspiring images and video with the world.
"Just as important, we challenged long-standing processes and qualified modern hardware for spaceflight on an expedited timeline.
"That operational urgency will serve NASA well as we pursue the highest-value science and research in orbit and on the lunar surface."
Personal items Artemis II astronauts have brought with them
Commander Reid Wiseman
Wiseman, a US Navy test pilot-turned-astronaut, is a single parent who is raising his two teenage daughters alone after he sadly lost his wife to cancer in 2020.
He's spoken to his children about the risks of the mission, with him saying to them while out on a walk: "Here's where the will is, here's where the trust documents are, and if anything happens to me, here's what's going to happen to you… That's part of this life."
Wiseman has taken a small notepad so that he can jot down his thoughts during the mission.
Mission specialist Christina Koch
Koch, an engineer and physicist, is a woman who has made many incredible milestones in her life.
Not only has she set the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, spending 328 days aboard the International Space Station in 2019, but she's also taken part in the first-ever all-female spacewalk. And now, she's the first woman to ever travel to the moon and venture into deep space.
Koch took handwritten notes from people close to her for her personal item, which she has described as a 'tactile connection' to loved ones back on Earth.
Mission specialist Jeremy Hansen
This is the former Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot and physicist's first time in space, making him the first Canadian to ever venture into deep space.
Hansen, who is married with three children, has carried four moon-shaped pendants for his wife and children, engraved with the phrase 'Moon and back' and set with their birthstones.
In true Canadian style he's also taken maple syrup and maple cookies on his lunar voyage.
Pilot Victor J Glover
Glover, a former US Navy fighter pilot and test pilot who became a NASA astronaut in 2013, is setting a milestone of his own by being the first ever Black person to travel to the moon.
He is married with four children, and served as pilot of NASA's SpaceX Crew 1 mission, as well as spending nearly six months on the International Space Station as part of Expedition 64.
Already known as the most charismatic and 'sharply dressed' of the Artemis crew, Glover took a Bible, his wedding rings and family heirlooms, along with a collection of inspirational quotations compiled by Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart.
Joe Harker