- Image of the Artemis II solar eclipse taken with a 12-year-old action camera
- The moment of the ‘greatest gift’ recorded with a GoPro Hero4 Black
- The mission equipment options continue to surprise camera fans.
The Artemis II crew continues to send stunning images back to Earth of key moments during their Moon flyby, including a solar eclipse from the far side of the Moon.
Like other iconic images from the mission, the view, never before seen by humans and described by crew member Victor Glover as “the greatest gift” of the mission, was captured with the most amazing camera equipment of all, at least for camera geeks and as far as image quality is concerned.
After the Lumix GH5 for the takeoff shots, the decade-old Nikon D5 DSLR for the incredible Earthset image, and the iPhone 17s Earth selfies, the solar eclipse was captured with an even older action camera, the GoPro Hero4 Black.
Article continues below.
The 12-year-old Hero4 Black was launched in 2014 and has been discontinued for a long time, being replaced several times, with the latest model being the Hero 13 Black.
It’s one of a number of surprising equipment choices, at least for camera fanatics who might have expected the multimillion-dollar mission to be equipped with the latest and greatest in photography gear. So what do we know about solar eclipse images and the equipment used to record the epic vision?
The Artemis II crew had the rare opportunity to view a solar eclipse from space. 🚀🌘☀️This video brings together views from Orion’s solar chambers throughout the eclipse, showing the Sun as it disappears behind the Moon, revealing a bright halo around the lunar disk. pic.twitter.com/d3Z64hVbefApril 9, 2026
I need a hero
NASA describes the image called ‘Eclipsed: A View from Orion’, dated April 6, 2026, as the moon, illuminated by the Sun during a solar eclipse, with Orion visible in the foreground on the left. It also reveals that the bright spot visible just below the lower right edge of the moon is Saturn, and the bright spot at the right edge of the image is Mars.
The Hero4 Black was the first in the ProTune series of hand-controlled action cameras, which has enabled a slow shutter speed, along with Bluetooth and WiFi support, although later models of course include these features and more.
And it’s not the only impressive image from the mission captured with the Hero4 Black. As expected, GoPro has shared other key images on its Instagram (see above), highlighting four moments.
We reached out to GoPro for comment on why the Artemis II mission opted for the 12-year-old action camera, and they said;
“Unfortunately, we are not in a position to delve deeper into these issues than what is publicly available: NASA has very strict guidelines regarding its branding and we cannot speak on its behalf.”
I’m sure that the choice of camera equipment will be one of the many questions that will be asked of the crew when they return safely to Earth, and I, for one, will be interested to hear what they have to say.
For now, I marvel at the incredible images shared so far, knowing that there are many more images and moments to come.
The best action camera.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to receive news, reviews and opinions from our experts in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp also.
