The Artemis II mission came to a successful end a few weeks ago, but excitement over the historic journey remains high, thanks in part to the remarkable photographs the four-person crew captured aboard Orion. It turns out those images were successful because the astronauts were doing more than pointing a camera out the window and hoping for the best. Before launch, they received dedicated photography training to help them document the Moon, Earth and the spacecraft’s journey between them.
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In an Instagram video from Reuters, NASA flight operations imagery instructor Paul Reichert explains the photography training process for astronauts. He says that when individuals are first brought on as astronauts or astronaut candidates, they receive about four to six hours of training from him and his fellow instructor, Katrina Willoughby. The goal at that point is to bring them to a basic level.
Before astronauts are assigned to a specific mission, Reichert says they may take some classes and have the opportunity to check out gear to get familiar with it. Then, once an astronaut is assigned to a mission, they have about 10 classes, which he says amounts to about 20 hours of training.
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The crew practiced for the mission using an Orion mock-up and a large, inflatable moon. Photo: NASA / James Blair |
According to the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Willoughby and Reichert, who are both alumni of the RIT photographic sciences program, worked with the Artemis II crew for two years to ensure they were fully prepared. Mission pilot Victor Glover said their training included on-the-ground drills that involved taking pictures inside a mock-up of the Orion capsule, according to Reuters.
“Most people can use a camera and get a photo that is good enough, but good enough isn’t what we’re after scientifically. We’re really teaching the astronauts how to go beyond the basics,” Willoughby says in the RIT article. “Being able to understand how to use the equipment, and what the options are, gives us a lot more capability.”
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Artemis II Pilot Victor Glover and Mission Specialist Christina Koch gather images and observations of the lunar surface to share with the world during the lunar flyby on the sixth day of the mission. The crew spent approximately seven hours taking turns at the windows of the Orion spacecraft as they flew around the far side of the Moon. Photo: NASA |
Images taken on such missions play an important role in research, but their importance goes beyond that, too. “There are pictures we want to get, and then there are pictures that the team is depending on. The imagery is their data,” says Willoughby. “If something breaks, for example, we need a picture or video to show us on the ground what’s going on. Sometimes, the imagery is what is needed to move forward, so it is important that the crew can get it right the first time.”
A Reuters article also details the camera gear chosen for the mission and why those particular devices were selected. We’ve seen lots of questions here at DPReview about why NASA opted for the Nikon D5, a decade-old camera. The answer appears to come down to what was tried and tested. “We had a lot of flight experience with it,” Reichert told Reuters. “We knew it could handle radiation, at least several years of radiation dosage on the ISS, and it didn’t have any problems with it.”