Nikon Space Act Agreement w/ NASA, Sending Z9 to the Moon

Received the following news from Nikon USA. There is also a press release:

https://www.nikonusa.com/en/about-nikon/press-room/press-release/lptu8wg2/MIRRORLESS-GOES-TO-THE-MOON%3A-NIKON-ENTERS-INTO-SPACE-ACT-AGREEMENT-WITH-NASA-FOR-ARTEMIS-MISSION-SUPPORT-WITH-THE-NIKON-Z-9-CAMERA.html

Today, Nikon Inc. announced that the brand has entered into a Space Act agreement with NASA to support the Artemis program with handheld universal lunar camera development.  

For the upcoming Artemis III mission to the Moon, NASA will equip its crew with the Nikon Z 9 full-frame mirrorless flagship camera and several NIKKOR Z mirrorless lenses. Nikon engineers are working closely with NASA to develop solutions and modifications that will ensure maximum reliability for the gear when being used under the extreme lunar environment.  

Together, the teams are redesigning various circuits and control sequences within the Z 9 to withstand the vast amounts of radiation, running vacuum thermal testing, developing a custom camera grip with common controls for easy usability with the crew’s thick spacesuit gloves and creating a special “blanket” to protect the camera during extravehicular activities. Special modifications will also be made to the Z 9 through a firmware that will expand noise reduction, adjust file naming sequences, reduce power consumption, optimize shutter shield and simplify the astronauts’ workflow. 

The 30-day Artemis III mission is scheduled to launch in September 2026 and will be the first human landing on the lunar surface since 1972 as well as the first time a woman will walk on the Moon. 

Upon further reading, those Z9 for moon landing will be extensively modified for NASA, unlike those that are in use on the International Space Station: https://www.photo.net/forums/topic/551263-nasa-sent-13-nikon-z9-and-15-z-lenses-onto-the-international-space-station

For moon landing, those Z9 will be modified to withstand the strong radiation on the moon surface. The controls will also be modified since the astronauts will be in spacesuits with heavy gloves.

For the space station, the Z9 hardware is unmodified, the same as the regular Z9 we can buy, but Nikon has developed specialized firmware for those Z9 for space usage.

12 minutes ago, ShunCheung said:

those Z9 will be modified to withstand the strong radiation on the moon surface

Are the sensor/electronics more or less susceptible to radiation damage than film?

38 minutes ago, mike_halliwell said:

Are the sensor/electronics more or less susceptible to radiation damage than film?

That is mentioned in the Nikon USA press release I linked to earlier. I assume the problem is due to the thin/non-existing atmosphere on the moon, but clearly I am no expert in this area.

supposedly there is new compressed image format avif that supports high bit colour on image files, livin la vida loco, could be usefull to reduce radio communication load

16 hours ago, ShunCheung said:

Are the sensor/electronics more or less susceptible to radiation damage than film?

Can't see that covered!

There are reports of occasional transient pixel hot spot etc on sensors that are attributed to Cosmic Particles.

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/811830-the-cosmic-rays-in-my-darks/

I just read about the temperature on the moon surface. Apparently it can fluctuate between +121 to -133 degrees Celsius (+250 to -208 Fahrenheit). That is a huge temperature range that is way outside of the Z9's normal operation temperature. I assume radiation can affect the electronics as well as the memory cards. We'll see how Nikon modifies the regular Z9 for such harsh environment.

The other thing the Moon is famous for is the ultra abrasive regolith or lunar dust. Because there is no wind or water movement, the grains are unweathed, and remain very sharp.

Martian and Terrestrial dust is smoothed off after billions of years of rolling motion.

8 minutes ago, mike_halliwell said:

The other thing the Moon is famous for is the ultra abrasive regolith or lunar dust. Because there is no wind or water movement, the grains are unweathed, and remain very sharp.

Martian and Terrestrial dust is smoothed off after billions of years of rolling motion.

I am sure NASA will have at least half a dozen Z9 special edition on hand when they land on the moon. If one is damaged, they'll just take out another one. They will only be on the moon surface for a week so that there won't be all that much time for wear and tear. There won't be any sports event or wildlife to warren 20 fps. 😃 The weight for the Z9 and lenses won't matter much due to the lower gravity, and dropping it won't be nearly as bad, either. 

I wonder whether I can purchase one of those left-over special edition camera after the program. I am sure they'll have a lot of extra ones for training and won't actually go into orbit. And at the end of the trip, they'll leave a lot of the equipment behind on the moon to minimize the weight that needs to be lift off from the moon. I hope that they won't forget to collect any memory card. 😉

1 hour ago, ShunCheung said:

I wonder whether I can purchase one of those left-over special edition camera after the program.

I'm sure no-one will want one after the Z10 comes out, so you might be in luck... 🤣

On 3/1/2024 at 8:00 AM, ShunCheung said:

There won't be any sports event or wildlife to warren 20 fps. 😃 

Didn't Alan Shepard play golf on the Apollo 14 mission? Or at least hit a couple of golf balls around while on the moon. Of course 20 fps might be a little overkill to capture the event.

Certainly no birds in flight on the surface of the moon, nor any 100-meter dash. Kind of hard to do that with a spacesuit on. 😉