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Thomas Pesquet uses the Artemis lunar camera. Credit: ESA–A. Romeo
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Thomas Pesquet uses the Artemis lunar camera. Credit: ESA–A. Romeo
When astronauts return to the moon, they will take more pictures of the lunar surface than humans have ever done before. To develop the best camera for the job, European astronauts and scientists provided assistance to NASA’s Artemis imaging team.
The engineers behind the Handheld Universal Lunar Camera (HULC) worked with ESA on the moon-like landscape of Lanzarote, Spain, to deploy the new camera during the PANGEA training program.
PANGEA prepares astronauts to become effective field scientists for future missions to the moon. The program sees an international crew test the camera’s capabilities in realistic scenarios for geological exploration.
During the geology field trip, the astronauts documented their exploration work using the ESA Electronic Field Book—a tool that allows PANGAEA geology instructors to follow and support the crew from the science room. This year, the science team received live audio and video in real time.
“The addition of a lunar camera allows the crew to experience realistic exploration of the lunar surface. This is a major improvement in their experience, something we are happy to repeat in future editions,” said Loredana Bessone, PANGAEA Project Lead.
New camera for the month
The new lunar camera is made from a ready-to-use professional camera with high sensitivity to light and advanced lenses. To prepare it for space, the NASA team made several modifications, including adding blankets for dust and heat protection—temperatures range from -200°C to 120°C on the moon—as well as a new set of ergonomic buttons for the astronaut’s suit. gloves in a large spacesuit.
One of Europe’s most prolific photographers in orbit, ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, praised the design after using it on PANGAEA. “The engineers have done an excellent job of reconfiguring the buttons and organizing them in a simple but reliable protection for the camera,” he said.
Image capture will be key to documenting scientific discoveries during future lunar missions. One of the goals during PANGEA is to choose the most suitable lens.
Thomas Pesquet, NASA astronaut candidate Jessica Wittner and Takuya Onishi of the Japanese space agency used cameras in broad daylight, but also in the darkness of volcanic caves to simulate extreme conditions for lunar photography.
“The lunar camera will be one of many tools they will need to use on the moon, so it needs to be easy to use. The human factor is a big issue for us, because you want the camera to be intuitive and not overwhelming for humans. crew,” explained Jeremy Myers, NASA lead for the HULC camera.
Together with some of Europe’s best planetary scientists, Jeremy reviews the quality of the images. “It’s useful to have a geologist’s point of view to ensure photos have the right resolution, depth of field and exposure to maximize science results,” he added.
A quantum leap from the Apollo era
Apollo 11 mission astronauts took iconic images of the moon with a very different camera—a stand-alone Hasselblad mechanical camera with a 60 mm Harrison Schmidt lens. During the entire mission, the astronauts collected 1,407 photos from the four cameras.
The Artemis lunar camera will be the first mirrorless camera used handheld in space. Mirrorless cameras provide excellent image quality in low-light situations, making them suitable for the challenging high-contrast environments on the moon.
The camera will also record video. Video can provide ground teams with situational awareness and help document exploration of our nearest cosmic neighbor.
Lights, camera, action
Thomas took more than 380,000 images in space during his two missions to the International Space Station. “I spent a lot of time studying what you can do with the cameras available in orbit. It’s not just pointing and shooting. “On the moon, just pressing the button in automatic mode will not be enough,” he explained.
The Artemis III mission will land at the moon’s south pole, close to a permanently shadowed crater where the crew will search for evidence of water ice. “Photographic conditions will be complicated in many ways, from operating the camera with gloves, to very low light levels and large contrast between light and dark sources,” added Thomas.
Future lunar explorers will take a variety of images of the lunar surface, ranging from close-up images and videos to panoramas. Jeremy spent a week with the PANGEA crew closely observing the performance of the cameras in the astronauts’ hands.
“We try to choose the best lenses for moon shots and optimize the settings in a smart way. We want astronauts to be able to photograph detailed crystal structures in rocks and capture landscapes, all with the right exposure. ,” explained Jeremy.
Testing continues
While the core of the camera remains the same, the interface and housing continue to evolve. One version will fly to the International Space Station for additional testing in the near future.
The NASA team has conducted extensive testing for three major space challenges: thermal, vacuum, and radiation effects. On the moon, one additional challenge is the abrasive nature of lunar dust. Last year, the camera was part of a moonwalk simulation with the JETT 3 mission in Arizona, USA
Several aspiring European astronauts recently got the chance to hold the camera during an imaging meeting in the Netherlands, and ESA astronauts Matthias Maurer and Alexander Gerst tested its features at the European Astronaut Center in Germany.
“We will continue to modify the camera as we move toward the Artemis III moon landing,” said Jeremy. “I am confident that we will produce the best product—a camera that can capture images of the moon for humanity, used by crews from many countries and for years to come,” he concluded.
2023-10-25 17:00:27
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