Comments on: Astronaut Don Pettit, just floatin' around in the ISS with his camera collection, like you do (photo)

By: Mark Vittek

Mark Vittek — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 19:34:00 +0000

I heard at a talk for the “Man on a Mission” doc that the reason they don’t bring the cameras back is that the sensors actually deteriorate fast up there and most of the cameras you see are ruined.

By: eviladrian

eviladrian — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 11:54:00 +0000

Next week on Hoarders
“Well, it costs so durned much to ship ‘em up here, I just can’t bring myself to throw ‘em out…”

By: awjt

awjt — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 07:39:00 +0000

Lat 35.6 something, Lon 64 or 84 something W
Next Sunset something Next Sunrise something

By: Eugenio Orozco Mancini

Eugenio Orozco Mancini — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 05:17:00 +0000

Can anyone make out what the GPS coordinates are on the laptop?

By: terrycarroll

terrycarroll — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 04:38:00 +0000

1D is the new eleven.

By: Petzl

Petzl — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 18:42:00 +0000

I have a 1D.

By: Florian Bösch

Florian Bösch — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 18:12:00 +0000

weeeelllll, we have this whole photo laboratory up there, but all that gets released is some stinky, noisy photo every half year? really?

By: ackpht

ackpht — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 18:03:00 +0000

Depends on other demands on bandwidth.

By: climbertobby

climbertobby — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 16:23:00 +0000

about one third of a kilogram per piece of equipment and launch costs from wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator_economics#Costs_of_current_systems_.28rockets.29 it took at least about 12000$ to put those up there.

worth every cent :)

By: ocker3

ocker3 — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 12:43:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUHXcltJCbY

Enjoy, I did!

By: Noctilucent Studios

Noctilucent Studios — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 11:47:00 +0000

I missed that. Link?

By: ocker3

ocker3 — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 11:26:00 +0000

Christ, what a Geek!

Of course, that’s why he’s in NASA, and why we sent him to the ISS, right? I loved his water bubble inside an air bubble inside a water bubble video, truly awesome!

By: RadioSilence

RadioSilence — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 10:32:00 +0000

Following :)

By: Tynam

Tynam — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 08:59:00 +0000

Why send the memory cards? They’ll send the data. Shipping is expensive, data is cheap.

By: ackpht

ackpht — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 08:34:00 +0000

A number of the cameras sport anodized mounting plates suggesting they were temporarily removed from other setups for the photo. There are six people on the ISS right now, figure four are awake at any given time- better to have a bunch of cameras on hand and not have astronauts waste time waiting/looking for them.

Backups make sense. Some might have special sensor/lens combinations for specialized functions, requiring even more backups.

As for having the latest and greatest- probably, but not necessarily. If an older model is already “up there”, has sufficient performance, has proven reliable, and the astronauts are comfortable with it (what does this button do?), I could see them sticking with it until there’s a compelling reason for an upgrade. Just send the memory cards up and down.

By: fuzzyfuzzyfungus

fuzzyfuzzyfungus — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 07:27:00 +0000

Yup, when you are in space you can drop expensive cameras without risk of damage! They get too confused about 'down' to actually fall! Did I mention that I'm in space?

By: penguinchris

penguinchris — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 05:23:00 +0000

I don’t know the answer but can speculate too :)

I don’t think this is an inordinate number of cameras to have on the ISS. For one, as has been noted it’s possible that some have been modified for special purposes. At the most basic level, they might want to use a crop-sensor camera to get extra reach out of their telephoto lenses, and full-frame sensors for everything else (we can of course argue about whether this actually makes a difference ;)

But more obviously, having a camera fail would be terrible – many people who been on any kind of adventure and had their only camera fail can attest to that.

I’ve never had a camera break but it’s happened to several people I know – I’m a geologist and we use cameras in the field for scientific purposes. It can be a disaster to have your only camera break, especially since geologists can’t draw anymore :) I carry a backup if I’m doing something important (for field work a point and shoot is usually fine). When you’re in space and a replacement is weeks away at best, you don’t get by on just one backup – I think even four or five purely backup cameras isn’t overkill.

Also it’s likely that they want the latest and greatest cameras, but might decide not to bring down the old ones right away in case there’s an unforeseen issue with the new ones.

By: relawson

relawson — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 04:26:00 +0000

Hah! Way to think ‘outside the bun’ there, Westfakia :)

Maybe we can ZOOM ENHANCE on his eyes to see what equipment is being used for this pic. lol

By: Westfakia

Westfakia — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 03:46:00 +0000

And amusingly enough, there is one more camera up there which is not in the picture, the one used to take the photo itself.

By: awjt

awjt — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 03:17:00 +0000

That’s Aurora’s camera. If you look carefully, you’ll also see Pete and Mary. Dude’s a camera thief, and NOBODY can get them back because of where he took them.

By: Noctilucent Studios

Noctilucent Studios — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 01:37:00 +0000

Ya know, ever since that cupola has been on the ISS, I cannot fathom how anyone is getting any work done up there. I would LIVE in that fricking space!!! The view must be stupendous…

By: dagfooyo

dagfooyo — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 01:13:00 +0000

The $40,000 per ounce consideration was my first thought too upon seeing this image. I suppose NASA and other associated space organizations are all for spending that much to make sure the amazing photos and video keep coming – it’s great PR and therefore probably well worth the payload cost.

By: ackpht

ackpht — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 00:33:00 +0000

Looks like they’re ALL Nikons. Note also a couple small pairs of binoculars at lower left.

By: Peer Bentzen

Peer Bentzen — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 23:32:00 +0000

I’d think they are special purposed cameras. One says “Aurora”. Perhaps there is a good wavelength for that. I also think that it’s better to change camera than lenses up there. Anyway it’s quicker, and you don’t want to loose too much time, I gather, at the cuppola.

By: malindrome

malindrome — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 23:23:00 +0000

He’s like the worst roommate ever. ”Dude, can I put a couple of boxes in the moving truck? Just like one or two small ones, you won’t even notice.”

By: Xeni Jardin

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 23:21:00 +0000

NICELY DONE, SIR!!!

By: awjt

awjt — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 23:19:00 +0000

They’re other people’s cameras. They go, “Hey, Don, can you snap a couple of shots for me with this?”

He goes, “Uhh, yeah, sure. It’s only $40,000 per ounce to transport this shit into orbit. Not my money.”

By: awjt

awjt — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 23:18:00 +0000

You’ve been saying fuck a lot lately. I like it. Keep up the good work!

By: relawson

relawson — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 22:53:00 +0000

So, although this picture is pretty cool, I can’t help but think that he could have just brought his best one (with a backup) and multiple memory cards and subsequently saved some weight on the trip up.

Reminds me of the person I know that bought a new weed trimmer whenever the line ran out because she didn’t know it could be refilled with more line… It took 5x buying a new one before someone told her.

By: Jake Spurlock

Jake Spurlock — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 22:50:00 +0000

Created!

http://fuckyeahdonpettit.tumblr.com/