Astronaut Photography: Handheld Camera Imagery from Low Earth Orbit

Earth observation from the manned low Earth orbit platforms

“…The U.S. manned Earth observations from spacecraft began with the Mercury programs in early 1960s (Stefanov et al, 2013) and has continued, through projects Genimi, Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle (e.g. two Space Radar Laboratory missions), to the ISS today.…”

“…For example, the training conducted in the Tupolev-134 aircraft employed a strategy that involved close collaboration between astronauts and scientists. Astronauts on the first Salyut 6 mission were tasked with developing and refining the Earth observation procedures and testing the equipment, including fixed high-resolution nadir-looking cameras (KATE-140 and MKF-6 M cameras), powerful binoculars and handheld cameras (Stefanov et al, 2013). The astronauts coordinated with the scientists during and after the flight to collect high resolution photography of designated surface targets and to interpret the recorded information.…”

“…Earth observations on Mir followed the strategy developed for Salyut program, but they were spontaneous in nature, since financial support for scientists and equipment dropped sharply during the collapse of the USSR. The Earth observing assets on Mir included the KATE and MKF-6 M fixed cameras, conventional handheld cameras, medium format cameras and a variety of film including a unique color infrared film (Stefanov et al, 2013). The Priroda module, a spacecraft intended for a wide range of remote sensing experiments, was launched to Mir station in 1996.…”

“…Inspired by the success of Mercury missions, various Earth observing campaigns, namely, synoptic terrain photography (S005), synoptic weather photography experiment (S006), visual acuity experiment (S008), surface photography experiment (D006), landmark contrast measurement experiment (M412) and color patch photography experiment (M410), were conducted during the Gemini III, IV, V, VI-A, VII, VIII, IX-A, X, XI and XII flights from March 1965 to November 1966 for a variety of applications in geology, geography and oceanography (Stefanov et al, 2013). Equipment used for photography included Hasselblad 500C Maurer 70 mm Space Camera, Hasselblad super wide angle camera, Contarex Camera, Maurer 70 mm Space Camera and Maurer 16 mm Motion Picture Camera.…”

“…Some campaigns were designed to perform the Earth observing by the crew members using the handheld cameras, such as Crew Earth Observations (CEO) (Evans et al, 2012), Space Shuttle Earth Observations Project (SSEOP) (Helfert and Wood, 1989) and Visual Observations (VO) (Glazovskiy and Dessinov, 2000). Stefanov et al (2013) gave a thorough review about the history, specifications and remote sensing applications of astronaut photography. Cochran (2013) illustrated the coral reefs studies utilizing astronaut photography.…”