The Artemis II mission has already provided the world with breathtaking still photography of an “Earthset,” the Earth dipping below the lunar horizon. Now, mission commander Reid Wiseman has released a stunning video of the same event, captured from a unique perspective during their historic journey around the Moon.
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While mission specialist Christina Koch used a professional Nikon camera to capture high-resolution stills, Wiseman reached for an iPhone 17 Pro Max to film the motion. He noted on X that while he could barely see the Moon through the small docking hatch window, the smartphone was the “perfect size” to record the view. The footage was shared uncropped and uncut, using an 8x zoom which Wiseman describes as being comparable to the scale of the human eye.
Only one chance in this lifetime…
Like watching sunset at the beach from the most foreign seat in the cosmos, I couldn’t resist a cell phone video of Earthset. You can hear the shutter on the Nikon as @Astro_Christina is hammering away on 3-shot brackets and capturing those… pic.twitter.com/8aWnaFJ69c
— Reid Wiseman (@astro_reid) April 19, 2026
This mission marked several significant records for human spaceflight:
See also
- The 54-Year Wait: This was the first time humans have personally witnessed an Earthset since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
- Breaking Distance Records: The crew travelled over a quarter of a million miles from Earth, extending more than 5,000 miles beyond the far side of the Moon, the furthest distance humans have ever ventured from their home planet.
The word “awesome” is often overused in daily conversation, but this footage justifies its literal definition. Seeing our “blue marble” slowly vanish behind the desolate, cratered lunar surface serves as a powerful reminder of both human achievement and the fragile isolation of Earth in the cosmos.
