Reid Wiseman: Commander of Artemis II, Reid Wiseman has uploaded a stunning video on the rare Earthset phenomenon where the Earth gradually fades behind the Moon. This was captured on April 6, 2026, when the crew flew around the lunar surface in the Orion capsule. The footage is all the more impressive because it was taken with an iPhone with 8x zoom through a small window, and this was pretty close to what the human eye would have been able to see in space.
WATCH Video Shared By Reid Wiseman
Reid Wiseman: The video depicts the Earth slowly sliding behind the Moon behind the edge of the Moon, the so called lunar limb, which provides a surreal view that is seldom seen by people. Before the planet vanishes, swirling clouds can be seen over the areas such as Australia and Oceania. In the foreground, a lunar crater adds depth and scale to the scene, enhancing the visual impact. Wiseman said that it felt like watching a sunset on the beach only to be sitting on the most unknown seat in the world. When the spacecraft was approximately 252,756 miles away, the distance was a record in the history of 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. 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
Reid Wiseman: Whereas Wiseman chose the smartphone to record the raw image, other astronauts such as Christina Koch used a professional camera and took high resolution photos of the same event. These are very infrequent, and the last similar Earthset to be seen was over 50 years ago, during the Apollo missions. During their journey, the crew also witnessed an “Earthrise” and even a solar eclipse from space. Considering the experience, Wiseman referred to the Earth as impossibly beautiful, noting the immense effect of the viewpoint of observing the Earth so far away.
