List of NASA cameras on spacecraft

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Space Shuttle astronaut Kenneth Cockrell with a digital Nikon NASA F4 HERCULES Kenneth Cockrell on Discovery with the HERCULES camera system (STS056-08-018).jpg
Space Shuttle astronaut Kenneth Cockrell with a digital Nikon NASA F4 HERCULES
Reflected in the visor is the camera used for this astronaut "selfie" ISS-32 American EVA b3 Aki Hoshide.jpg
Reflected in the visor is the camera used for this astronaut "selfie"
Astronaut Christopher Cassidy holding a camera while on EVA (Space-walk) ISS-36 EVA-3 (d) Chris Cassidy.jpg
Astronaut Christopher Cassidy holding a camera while on EVA (Space-walk)

NASA has operated several cameras on spacecraft over the course of its history.

Contents

Apollo Program

Skylab

Personal camera equipment: [2]

Space Shuttle program

Lunar missions

The camera used two lenses to simultaneously expose a wide-angle and a high-resolution image on the same film. The wide-angle, medium resolution mode used an 80 mm F 2.8 Xenotar lens manufactured by Schneider Kreuznach, Germany. The high-resolution mode used a 610 mm F 5.6 Panoramic lens manufactured by the Pacific Optical Company. The film was developed on-orbit, and then scanned by a photomultiplier for transmission to Earth.

Other missions

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surveyor 3</span> American lunar lander

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lunar Orbiter program</span> Series of five uncrewed lunar orbiter missions

The Lunar Orbiter program was a series of five uncrewed lunar orbiter missions launched by the United States from 1966 through 1967. Intended to help select Apollo landing sites by mapping the Moon's surface, they provided the first photographs from lunar orbit and photographed both the Moon and Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hasselblad</span> Swedish camera manufacturer

Victor Hasselblad AB is a Swedish manufacturer of medium format cameras, photographic equipment and image scanners based in Gothenburg, Sweden. The company originally became known for its classic analog medium-format cameras that used a waist-level viewfinder. Perhaps the most famous use of the Hasselblad camera was during the Apollo program missions when the first humans landed on the Moon. Almost all of the still photographs taken during these missions used modified Hasselblad cameras. In 2016, Hasselblad introduced the world's first digital compact mirrorless medium-format camera, the X1D-50c, changing the portability of medium-format photography. Hasselblad produces about 10,000 cameras a year from a small three-storey building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikon F</span> Camera model

The Nikon F camera, introduced in April 1959, was Nikon's first SLR camera. It was one of the most advanced cameras of its day. Although many of the concepts had already been introduced elsewhere, it was revolutionary in that it was the first to combine them all in one camera. It was produced until October 1973 and was replaced by the Nikon F2. Aspects of its design remain in all of Nikon's subsequent SLR cameras, through the current Nikon F6 film and Nikon D6 digital models. The "F" in Nikon F was selected from the term "re-f-lex", since the pronunciation of the first letter "R" is not available in many Asian languages. That tradition was carried all the way through their top line of Nikon cameras until the introduction of the Nikon D1 (digital) cameras decades later.

The angle of view is the decisive variable for the visual perception of the size or projection of the size of an object.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camera lens</span> Optical lens or assembly of lenses used with a camera to create images

A camera lens is an optical lens or assembly of lenses used in conjunction with a camera body and mechanism to make images of objects either on photographic film or on other media capable of storing an image chemically or electronically.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wide-angle lens</span> Type of lens

In photography and cinematography, a wide-angle lens refers to a lens whose focal length is substantially smaller than the focal length of a normal lens for a given film plane. This type of lens allows more of the scene to be included in the photograph, which is useful in architectural, interior, and landscape photography where the photographer may not be able to move farther from the scene to photograph it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holga</span> 120 film camera

The Holga is a medium format 120 film camera, made in Hong Kong, known for its low-fidelity aesthetic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fisheye lens</span> Wide-angle photographic lens with uncorrected barrel distortion

A fisheye lens is an ultra wide-angle lens that produces strong visual distortion intended to create a wide panoramic or hemispherical image. Fisheye lenses achieve extremely wide angles of view, well beyond any rectilinear lens. Instead of producing images with straight lines of perspective, fisheye lenses use a special mapping, which gives images a characteristic convex non-rectilinear appearance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital single-lens reflex camera</span> Digital cameras combining the parts of a single-lens reflex camera and a digital camera back

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">APS-C</span> Image sensor format

Advanced Photo System type-C (APS-C) is an image sensor format approximately equivalent in size to the Advanced Photo System film negative in its C ("Classic") format, of 25.1×16.7 mm, an aspect ratio of 3:2 and Ø 31.15 mm field diameter. It is therefore also equivalent in size to the Super 35 motion picture film format, which has the dimensions of 24.89 mm × 18.66 mm and Ø 31.11 mm field diameter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apollo TV camera</span> Outerspace broadcasting device

The Apollo program used several television cameras in its space missions in the late 1960s and 1970s; some of these Apollo TV cameras were also used on the later Skylab and Apollo–Soyuz Test Project missions. These cameras varied in design, with image quality improving significantly with each successive model. Two companies made these various camera systems: RCA and Westinghouse. Originally, these slow-scan television (SSTV) cameras, running at 10 frames per second (fps), produced only black-and-white pictures and first flew on the Apollo 7 mission in October 1968. A color camera – using a field-sequential color system – flew on the Apollo 10 mission in May 1969, and every mission after that. The color camera ran at the North American standard 30 fps. The cameras all used image pickup tubes that were initially fragile, as one was irreparably damaged during the live broadcast of the Apollo 12 mission's first moonwalk. Starting with the Apollo 15 mission, a more robust, damage-resistant camera was used on the lunar surface. All of these cameras required signal processing back on Earth to make the frame rate and color encoding compatible with analog broadcast television standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lens speed</span>

Lens speed refers to the maximum aperture diameter, or minimum f-number, of a photographic lens. A lens with a larger than average maximum aperture is called a "fast lens" because it can achieve the same exposure as an average lens with a faster shutter speed. Conversely, a smaller maximum aperture is "slow" because it delivers less light intensity and requires a slower (longer) shutter speed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikon D3</span> Digital single lens reflex camera

The Nikon D3 is a 12.0-megapixel professional-grade full frame (35 mm) digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) announced by the Nikon Corporation on 23 August 2007 along with the Nikon D300 DX format camera. It was Nikon's first full-frame DSLR. The D3, along with the Nikon D3X, was a flagship model in Nikon's line of DSLRs, superseding the D2Hs and D2Xs. It was replaced by the D3S as Nikon's flagship DSLR. The D3, D3X, D3S, D4, D4s, D5, D6, D700, D800, D800Е and Df are the only Nikon FX format DSLRs manufactured in Japan. The D3S was replaced by the D4 in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lenses for SLR and DSLR cameras</span>

This article is about photographic lenses for single-lens reflex film cameras (SLRs) and digital single-lens reflex cameras (DSLRs). Emphasis is on modern lenses for 35 mm film SLRs and for DSLRs with sensor sizes less than or equal to 35 mm ("full-frame").

<span class="mw-page-title-main">35 mm equivalent focal length</span>

In photography, the 35 mm equivalent focal length is a measure that indicates the angle of view of a particular combination of a camera lens and film or sensor size. The term is popular because in the early years of digital photography, most photographers experienced with interchangeable lenses were most familiar with the 35 mm film format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikon NASA F4</span> Digital camera

The Nikon NASA F4 Electronic Still Camera is one of the first and rarest fully digital cameras with development started in 1987. While Nikon delivered a modified Nikon F4 body, most of the electronics for the digital camera and housings were designed and manufactured by NASA at the Johnson Space Center and other suppliers. It was first flown in September 1991 on board the Space Shuttle Discovery, mission STS-48. Later the cameras were flown on several other Shuttle missions including STS-44, 45, 42, 49, 53, 56 and 61.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM lens</span> Ultra wide-angle rectilinear camera zoom lens

The Sigma 8–16mm lens is an enthusiast-level, ultra wide-angle rectilinear zoom lens made by Sigma Corporation specifically for use with APS-C small format digital SLRs. It is the first ultrawide rectilinear zoom lens with a minimum focal length of 8 mm, designed specifically for APS-C size image sensors. The lens was introduced at the February 2010 Photo Marketing Association International Convention and Trade Show. At its release it was the widest viewing angle focal length available commercially for APS-C cameras. It is part of Sigma's DC line of lenses, meaning it was designed to have an image circle tailored to work with APS-C format cameras. The lens has a constant length regardless of optical zoom and focus with inner lens tube elements responding to these parameters. The lens has hypersonic zoom autofocus.

UPWARD was the code name, within the National Reconnaissance Office's Byeman Control System, for assistance given to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) during the Apollo program. The camera designed to survey the lunar surface was a modification of the GAMBIT design and utilized a 1.5-inch (38 mm) focal length camera for a terrain mapping apparatus. This camera system was present on both the CORONA and GAMBIT survey systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mars Color Imager</span>

The Mars Color Imager (MARCI) is a wide-angle, relatively low-resolution camera built for Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. MARCI views the surface of Mars in five visible and two ultraviolet bands. Each day, MARCI collects about 84 images and produces a global map with pixel resolutions of 1 to 10 km. This map provides a weekly weather report for Mars, helps to characterize its seasonal and annual variations, and maps the presence of water vapor and ozone in its atmosphere. The camera was built and is operated by Malin Space Science Systems. It has a 180-degree fisheye lens with the seven color filters bonded directly on a single CCD sensor.

References

  1. Apollo 15 Preliminary Science Report, NASA SP-289, 1972
  2. EP-107 Skylab: A Guidebook, Chapter 5
  3. Madrigal, Alexis (14 July 2011). "NASA's Rocket Booster Cam Video". The Atlantic. Retrieved 3 January 2013.