By 2028, Artemis astronauts will begin building humanity's first outpost on the Moon. As we explore the final frontier, we must consider how we document our firsts. How can a camera serve as a tool to record and preserve humanity's earliest history on another world?
NASA's Artemis program aims to return humans to the Moon by 2027 and establish a permanent base to prepare for Mars missions.
Below is our mission and predicted course of action according to NASA's Artemis missions.
3 Days
Humans will travel from Earth to Mars in a roughly six to nine-month transit window.
Cameras can capture human behavior and procedures on board during transit to identify areas for improvement when we go to the moon.
3 years
After arrival, crews will spend years establishing shelters, food systems, and energy production.
Documenting our failures and successes will help us identify weak points to refine in later missions.
Decades
Over decades, habitats expand, infrastructure improves, and Mars transitions to a permanent human settlement.
As we continue to develop these colonies, we begin to create our own visual history of life on another planet. This will be our era's version of cave drawings.
The Artemis crew will wear the Orion space suit, whose glove form factor is similar to a winter glove. As a result, the camera must feature oversized controls to accommodate reduced dexterity.
The Titan uses a medium-format sensor with enough resolution for digital zoom via cropping.
I replaced the traditional dome shutter button with a power tool-style trigger for easy gloved operation.