- NASA is now allowing personal smartphones in space, and the first such mission has launched
- A video shows the Artemis II crew dropping an iPhone in zero gravity
- Other videos also offer glimpses of astronauts using iPhones
It’s a big day for NASA as the Artemis II mission has launched, sending four astronauts on a trip around the moon – a journey that will take them further from Earth than anyone has been in over 50 years. But this — along with the Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station — is also the first time NASA astronauts have been allowed to take personal smartphones with them.
This marks the first time that iPhones and Android phones have been carried into space on NASA missions, and we’re already seeing some of the fun being had with them.
In a series of posts on X, @OwenSparks shared some short clips of the crew using iPhones. In one, an iPhone is thrown to someone in zero gravity, while in another one of the astronauts – Christina Koch – films Victor Glover piloting the spacecraft.
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The Artemis team throw their iPhones around and float in zero gravity 😂 pic.twitter.com/mjghv2fz1IApril 2, 2026
There’s also a third clip showing iPhones being packed into the crew’s suits before takeoff.
What comes next is more exciting
But as fun as these clips are, I’m more excited for what comes next – with this mission taking the crew around the moon, we’ll soon be able to get close-ups of the moon from the same phones most of us use every day, so it’ll be interesting to see.
And smartphones can also be used on future missions, so Artemis II won’t be the last we see of them in space.
Plus, while it seems this mission has favored iPhones, it’s likely that sooner or later an astronaut will also show us what an Android phone is capable of on a trip to space.
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