When we think of a GoPro, like the GoPro Hero and Hero13 Black, to name a few examples, the first thing that comes to mind is not space, but sports, travel or any scene recorded at ground level. They are cameras designed to accompany us, to record what we experience from very close up. However, that is precisely what changes when we look at Artemis II: what we have seen these days is how that technology, with specific modifications, has made the leap to a ship that has flown over the Moon. And the most interesting thing is not only that it is up there, but that part of those images have been seen live.
action cameras in space. GoPro confirmed that its cameras are part of the Orion spacecraft’s imaging system, developed by NASA to capture images of the mission and support inspection tasks. These units, adapted for the space environment, are installed on solar panels and are added to a set of more than 28 cameras that record different moments of the trip. All of this also falls within the current phase of the mission, with the ship already back after passing through the lunar environment and with NASA beginning to disseminate this material.
Where are they and what are they used for?. As we already mentioned, these cameras are not inside, but on the Orion solar panels. It is not a coincidence: this position allows something very specific, that the ship itself appears in the frame along with the environment that surrounds it. From there they can capture high-resolution images of the vehicle, the Earth and the Moon during different phases of the journey. The manufacturer details that there are four units modified and integrated into NASA’s imaging system, and in addition to generating this visual material, they are also used to verify the status of the ship at key moments of the mission.
In this image of the Orion spacecraft on Artemis I we can see a solar panel deployed
El streaming. The first thing that becomes clear is that we are not facing a conventional broadcast. NASA notes that live views from Orion are part of the coverage, but also warns that signal variations may occur due to distance and communication limitations. Therefore, what we see is a broadcast that does not always maintain the same image: there are cuts, moments in blue when the signal is lost and sections in black when the ship is in darkness. In practice, the broadcast does not always maintain the same continuity, something logical in a mission of this type.
Where to see it and what type of live it is. The window to all this is on the official NASA channel, with an active broadcast titled “NASA’s Artemis II Live Views from Orion.” It is a technical signal that remains active depending on the link conditions with the spacecraft and the mission priorities. This implies that we do not always see the same image or with the same continuity, something that responds directly to how a flight of this type is managed. The result is an unconventional live show, closer to a technical signal than to a broadcast designed for television.
Something difficult to replicate with words. Not only because of the images themselves, which already have enough weight, but because of what they represent. We are talking about a technology that many of us use in everyday contexts and that, with the necessary adaptations, has ended up being part of a manned mission around the Moon. And not only that, it has also allowed us to take a look at that journey almost live, with all the limitations that it implies.
Images | POT
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