The Nasa Electronic Still Camera System

Abstract

The Electronic Still Camera project was conceived out of the necessity to get high-resolution, high-quality imaging from piloted space systems to Earth in near real time. The system, while being developed originally for Space Station, has been implemented in its first form for Space Shuttle operations. The system was used first on mission STS-48, September 1991, resulting in a large amount of interest from diversified groups, including the Earth observations community. Since then the Electronic Still Camera (ESC) has flown on Shuttle mission STS-42 and is planned to fly on STS-45, STS-49, and STS-53. The following paper describes the ESC system and details t!ie features and purpose of this new space-based tool.