"Only One Chance In This Lifetime": Artemis II Astronaut Captures Stunning Video Of 'Earthset' On iPhone

Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman has shared stunning video footage of a rare 'Earthset' - where the Earth slowly disappears behind the Moon. The astronaut filmed it on April 6, 2026, during the Artemis II mission, while the crew was flying past the Moon. The photo was taken with an iPhone and 8x zoom through the window of the Orion capsule, which makes it even more impressive.

The video shows the Earth gradually slipping behind the Moon's edge, something astronauts call the "lunar limb." In the video, one can see parts of Earth covered in swirling clouds, especially over Australia and Oceania, before it vanishes from view. In the foreground, a crater on the Moon's surface is also visible, adding to the scale of the moment.

Wiseman described it as "like watching a sunset at the beach, but from the most unfamiliar seat in the universe." It happened when they were at their farthest point from Earth, about 252,756 miles away, setting a new distance record for human spaceflight.

"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," he wrote while sharing the video. 

"I could barely see the Moon through the docking hatch window but the iPhone was the perfect size to catch the view…this is uncropped, uncut with 8x zoom which is quite comparable to the view of the human eye. Enjoy," he added. 

Watch the video here:

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

While Wiseman captured the moment on his phone to match what the human eye sees, fellow astronaut Christina Koch used a professional camera with a long lens to take high-resolution shots of the same scene.

Notably, this kind of view is incredibly rare. It had been more than 50 years since people had seen an Earthset like this, since the Apollo era. The crew saw it while flying on the far side of the Moon, where they couldn't see Earth for part of the trip.

As the spacecraft moved along its path, the crew later saw the opposite effect - an 'Earthrise,' with the planet coming back into view. They also got to witness a solar eclipse from space during the mission.

After returning, Wiseman spoke about how overwhelming it was to see Earth from so far away. He described the planet as "impossibly beautiful," saying it looked incredible from every distance. Wiseman led the Artemis II mission as commander, alongside pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen.