You're supposed to have your phone on airplane mode, so you aren't accessible to your mobile network. There's nothing to say you can't use a cellphone to record something
It does that because the engine (a PW120 or 123) / prop is turning at aprox 2200 rpm which is very close to the shutter speed of the camera. If you take a still w/ an iphone you will get 6 blades instead of 4 in the photo because of how the cameras "shutter"works.
I have the feeling that if we all had the chance to travel into space and observe the earth like this, we would understand the meaning of life, and ho ...