Nikon Makes Special Firmware For NASA To Block Galactic Cosmic Rays In Photos

In an exclusive interview with PetaPixel, astronaut Don Pettit reveals the changes that Nikon makes to its firmware especially for NASA. From the report: Galactic cosmic rays are high-energy particles that originate from outside the solar system that likely come from explosive events such as a supernova. They are bad news for cameras in space -- damaging the sensor and spoiling photos -- so Nikon made special firmware for NASA to limit the harm. Pettit tells PetaPixel that Nikon changed the in-camera noise reduction settings to battle the cosmic rays -- noise is unwanted texture and blur on photos.

Normal cameras have in-camera noise reduction for exposures equal to or longer than one second. This is because camera manufacturers don't think photographers need noise reduction for shorter exposures because there's no noise to reduce. But in space, that's not true. 'Our cameras in space get sensor damage from galactic cosmic rays and after about six months we replace all the cameras but you still have cameras with significant cosmic ray damage,' explains Pettit. 'It shows up at fast shutter speeds, not just the slow ones. So we got Nikon to change the algorithm so that it can do in-camera noise reduction at shutter speeds of up to 500th of a second.'

Pettit says Nikon's in-camera noise reduction 'does wonders' for getting rid of the cosmic ray damage and that 'trying to get rid of it after the fact is really difficult.' That's not the only special firmware feature that Nikon makes for NASA; photographers who shoot enough photos know that the file naming system resets itself eventually which is no good for the space agency's astronauts. 'The file naming system on a standard digital system will repeat every so often and we can't have two pictures with the same number,' explains Pettit. 'We'll take half a million pictures with the crew on orbit and so Nikon has changed the way the RAW files are numbered so that there will be no two with the same file number.' The report notes that NASA started using Nikon film cameras in 1971, shortly after the Apollo era; 'in part because Nikon is so good at making custom modifications that help the astronauts.' Previously, the agency used boxy, black Hasselblad cameras.

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