NASA used a 12-year-old GoPro to seize a sight referred to as the ‘biggest reward’ by Artemis II pilot — and it used one excessive setting to get the shot - Sa Rkarie Xams – Smartwatches, Fitness & Wearable Tech News

Photo voltaic eclipse picture from Artemis II shot with 12-year-old motion cam
The ‘biggest reward’ second recorded with a GoPro Hero4 Black
The mission’s gear selections proceed to shock digital camera followers

The Artemis II crew proceed to ship gorgeous photos again to earth of key moments throughout its moon fly-by — not least of which embrace a photo voltaic eclipse from the far facet of the moon.

Like different iconic photos from the mission, the sight, by no means earlier than seen by people and described by crew member Victor Glover as ‘the best reward’ of the mission, was captured with essentially the most stunning digital camera gear of all, no less than to digital camera followers and as far as picture high quality goes.

Following the Lumix GH5 for take-off photographs, the decade-old Nikon D5 DSLR for the unimaginable Earthset picture and earth selfies with iPhone 17s, the photo voltaic eclipse was captured with an excellent older motion digital camera, the GoPro Hero4 Black.

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A photo voltaic eclipse from the far facet of the moon, from the Orion spacecraft, shot with a GoPro Hero4 Black. (Picture credit score: NASA)

A full 12-years-old, the Hero4 Black was launched in 2014 and has lengthy been discontinued, being changed a number of instances over, with the newest mannequin being the Hero 13 Black.

April 9, 2026

I want a Hero

NASA describes the picture named ‘Eclipsed: A View from Orion’, dated April 6, 2026, because the moon, backlit by the Solar throughout a photo voltaic eclipse, with the Orion seen within the foreground on the left. It additionally reveals the intense spot seen slightly below the moon’s backside proper edge to be Saturn, and the intense spot on the proper fringe of the picture as Mars.

EXIF knowledge on the NASA website reveals the digital camera gear and settings used to report the photo voltaic eclipse picture. The Hero4 Black was set to handbook white steadiness, auto publicity, ISO 800, and a 5-second publicity time.

The Hero4 Black was the primary within the sequence of motion cams with ProTune handbook management, which has enabled a gradual shutter velocity, together with Bluetooth and WiFi assist, although, in fact, later fashions pack these options and extra.

And it is not the one gorgeous picture from the mission captured with the Hero4 Black. Unsurprisingly, GoPro has shared different key photos on its Instagram (see above), pinpointing 4 moments.

We reached out to GoPro for remark about why the Artemis II mission opted for the 12-year-old motion digital camera, and it stated;

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“Sadly, we’re not within the place to go any deeper on these questions than what’s publicly accessible — NASA has very strict tips on their model, and we are able to’t converse on their behalf.”

I am positive the digital camera gear selections can be one in every of many questions posed to the crew upon its protected return to earth, and I, for one, can be eager to listen to what they need to say.

For now, I am marvelling on the unimaginable photos shared up to now, within the data that there are lots extra photos and moments but to come back.

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