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Apollo 17 in 1972 VS Artemis II in 2026 RTX On Off

This is a two-panel comparison meme that uses the popular 'RTX Off / RTX On' gaming graphics meme format to joke about the massive improvement in imaging quality between the 1972 Apollo 17 lunar mission and the upcoming 2026 Artemis II lunar mission. The top panel, labeled 'RTX OFF', shows a lower-detail view of Earth rising over the Moon's surface from the Apollo 17 mission, while the bottom panel labeled 'RTX ON' shows a much higher-detail, sharper, more vibrant modern render of the same view for Artemis II, mirroring how NVIDIA RTX ray tracing drastically improves graphics quality in video games.
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Overview

This is a two-panel comparison meme that uses the popular 'RTX Off / RTX On' gaming graphics meme format to joke about the massive improvement in imaging quality between the 1972 Apollo 17 lunar mission and the upcoming 2026 Artemis II lunar mission. The top panel, labeled 'RTX OFF', shows a lower-detail view of Earth rising over the Moon's surface from the Apollo 17 mission, while the bottom panel labeled 'RTX ON' shows a much higher-detail, sharper, more vibrant modern render of the same view for Artemis II, mirroring how NVIDIA RTX ray tracing drastically improves graphics quality in video games.

Origin notes

This is an original meme sourced from Reddit, created to joke about the decades of technological progress between the last Apollo moon landing and the upcoming Artemis lunar program, by applying the common viral RTX On/Off meme format that highlights extreme graphical improvements.

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