When the crew members safely returned to Earth, Apple CEO Tim Cook and marketing chief Greg Joswiak took to social media to congratulate them on the successful mission and also highlighted the "participation" of the iPhone.
"You beautifully captured the wonders of space and our planet, taking iPhone photography to new heights, and we are grateful you shared it with the world. Your work continues to inspire us to think differently. Welcome home," wrote Cook.
"We are honored that NASA astronauts took an iPhone with them into space. One small step for iPhone, one giant leap for space selfies," Joswiak said.
In February, NASA announced that the iPhone is fully qualified for extended use in orbit, and reports indicate that each of the four crew members on Orion was equipped with an iPhone 17 Pro Max for personal photos and videos.
The photos show Artemis II mission commander Reid Wiseman and mission specialist Christina Koch looking at Earth through one of Orion's main cabin windows. Data from Flickr shows that these photos were taken with the front camera of the iPhone 17 Pro Max on April 2, which was the second day of the mission.
Most of the other photos from the mission shared so far were taken with other cameras, such as the Nikon D5, Nikon Z 9, and GoPro HERO4 Black.
Artemis II was NASA's first crewed mission to the Moon since 1972. The crew reached the far side of the Moon, breaking the all-time record for the farthest distance humans have traveled from Earth. However, Orion does not have landing capabilities, so it was only a flyby mission. The spacecraft then safely returned to Earth.