The four Artemis II astronauts set to make history by traveling further away from Earth than any human in history will be taking 10-year-old DSLR cameras with them — rather than modern mirrorless.
Two Nikon D5s will be onboard the Orion spacecraft with astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen as they sail into the Moon’s vicinity. A recent video posted to the NASA Artemis Facebook page features Wiseman and Koch after a “photo-TV” session in which Wiseman shows off the crew’s “old-school” D5 that will be used on the mission.
Some may be surprised to learn that the Artemis II is bringing the full-frame, 20.8-megapixel D5 that was released back in 2016. It’s not exactly clear why the crew isn’t bringing the Nikon Z9s that are available on the International Space Station but NASA tells PetaPixel that “future Artemis missions will incorporate next-generation camera systems currently undergoing spaceflight qualifications.”
“Astronauts on Artemis II will use flight-qualified Nikon D5 camera systems with wide-angle and telephoto lenses to capture imagery inside and outside the Orion spacecraft,” NASA adds.
“The choice of the Nikon D5 was not accidental. The camera is known for its low-noise performance and high dynamic range, qualities that allow it to handle the stark contrast between sunlit spacecraft surfaces and deep shadow in space,” writes Charles Boyer of Florida Media Now.
“Just as critical for a deep-space mission, the D5 has shown strong resistance to radiation effects, helping ensure reliable operation beyond low Earth orbit where exposure levels are significantly higher. Still, it is an old camera by today’s standards.”
The Nikon D5 caused a stir when it was released because of its ISO range that extends up to 3,280,000. For comparison, the Nikon Z9 only goes up to 102,400, and even after downsizing Z9 files to match the resolution of the D5, Nikon’s old DSLR still delivers cleaner images at very high ISO than the Z9. The Artemis II crew will likely need a lot of that ISO as they travel through the darkness of space — and a whole lot of denoising software to boot.
The D5 won’t be the only camera onboard: PetaPixel previously reported that Artemis II astronauts will be allowed to take their personal smartphones with them and there’ll also be handheld GoPros provided by Disney for a National Geographic documentary.
PetaPixel previously reported that out of the four-person crew that will fly beyond the Moon, it’s Koch (pronounced Cook) who appears most likely to excel at taking pictures. During her 328 days in space between 2019 and 2020, the longest continuous time a woman has ever spent there, she took a number of spectacular photos, some of which she has shared on her Instagram page.
But just as excitement was building to the launch, the rocket that will blast Artemis II out of orbit is about to be wheeled off the launchpad due to a helium system issue. After eyeing a March 6 launch, the rollback will delay the mission until at least April.
Additional reporting by Jeremy Gray
Image credits: NASA
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