wouldremainstopped-down
betweenshots.Asa result, the
mechanismthatopenedthe
shutteruponcockingcouldalso
beremoved.Thenormallubricants
werereplacedwithspecial
oneswhichwouldn’tboiloff in a
vacuum.Allpotentiallydangerous
materialsusedin thecamera
suchasplastics,glues,paint and
insulationhadtobeapproved by
NASA.Allelectricalcomponentry
hadtobecarefullysealedto avoid
theriskofignitionin theoxygen-
saturated atmosphere of the space
capsule (a painful lesson learned
from the Apollo 1 disaster on
27 January 1967). For the same
reason, a method also had to be
devised to deal with the static
electricity which builds up when
film is wound on, and normally
isn’t an issue, but in the absence
of any surrounding air, also had the
potential to create sparks. Lastly,
the camera’s control layout was
modified to enable easier operation
with the bulky spacesuit gloves
(in particular, the traditional shutter
release button was replaced by
a large paddle, and levers were
used on the aperture and focusing
collars).
After Neil Armstrong’s
successful shoot on 21 July 1969,
the HEDC was hoisted up to the
lunar lander using a line attached
to special tethering ring in the
magazine (this method had also
been used to lower the camera
down to him). After removing the
film magazines from both space
cameras, the bodies, lenses and
all accessories (along with a lot of
other equipment) were jettisonedto save weight. The
succeeding five
Apollo missions to
land on the Moon
(12, 14, 15, 16 and
17) repeated this
practice, resulting in
12 very collectable
Hasselblad camera
bodies and lenses
being left behind. On
14 December 1972,
the Apollo 17 crew
of Eugene Cernan and Harrison
Schmitt left their Hasselblads on
the backseat of the Lunar Rover
parked in the landing area by the
mountains of Taurus Littrow. At
the end of the Apollo 17 mission,
according to NASA, a total of 18
film magazines had been shot on
the Moon’s surface.
For the Space Shuttle missions
NASA used a modified version of
the 553ELX (a successor to the
500EL) and then, in 1997, switched
to the new-generation 203FE
which was re-designated the 203S
and offered the luxury of built-in
TTL metering. NASA bought 30 of
them equipped with the DistagonFE50mmf2.8,PlanarFE110mm
f2.0or Tele-TessarFE250mmf4.0
lenses.Againthemodifications
includedremovingtheleatherette
trimandanyplasticcomponents,
replacingthestandardlubricants
andensuringallelectronic
componentswerefullisolated.
Withmannedspaceflight
currentlylimitedtovisitstothe
InternationalSpaceStation(ISS)
byastronautsfroma rangeof“After removing
the film
magazines from
both space
cameras; the
bodies, lenses
and all accessories
were jettisoned
to save weight.”
countries, carried aloft by Russian
Soyuz rockets, there isn’t a lot
of scope for ‘conventional’
space photography. NASA is
using Nikon D4s aboard the
ISS to shoot stills and has also
used a RED 4K video camera,
which perhaps gives a clue to
the future in space imagery. With
weight always going to be a major
issue in space flight and the fact
that 6K video gives 18 megapixels
stills and 8K video yields 33 MP
frames, hybrid cameras will
be an increasingly attractive
proposition for photography
that’s out of this world.TheEarth
photographed
on 7 December
1972 by the Apollo 17
crew on their way to
the final Moon landing
in the program. This
was the first time the
Apollo trajectory made it
possible to photograph
the south polar ice cap.
FeAture
The film magazines used 70mm film
with an ultra-thin base to enable up to
160 frames with colour transparency
film or 200 frames with B&W. The
backs were screwed shut to prevent
them being opened accidentally. Note
the instruction on the top panel and
the recommendations for exposures,
depending on the position of the sun.
Note too, the tether ring at the rear
which was used to attach a line for
lowering the camera from the lunar
module. Bodies and film magazines
were matched to each other.