These cameras will fly to the Moon. NASA made its choice
NASA presented the camera that astronauts will take to the Moon as part of the Artemis program. It was developed together with Nikon.
Soon, astronauts will once again set foot on the Moon as part of the program Artemis. NASA has revealed some secrecy about the equipment that will help them bring back (hopefully) unforgettable photos from this expedition.
NASA and Nikon developed a space camera together
As you can easily guess, cameras sold in stores are not necessarily suitable for use during a space mission, therefore NASA she reported to the company Nikon asking for help in developing a special device prepared especially for this purpose. The fruit of this work is: Handheld Universal Lunar Camera (HULC), being at its core heavily modified Nikon Z9.
However, the space apparatus will differ from its terrestrial counterpart in almost every respect. First of all, it will be equipped with special thermal coating, enabling operation at temperatures much lower than those occurring on the Earth’s surface. The special housing was to remain designed specifically to be operated in a spacesuit. In addition, there are modifications to the electronics, thanks to which the device is to be more resistant to cosmic radiation.
Currently, the HULC prototype is undergoing intensive tests on the Earth’s surface. Not only NASA, but also the cooperating agencies ESA and JAXA take part in them. The new Nikon is to go to the moon with the mission Artemis III scheduled for 2026.
