-Stan Horaczek

It must be fun to place an order with Nikon for 11 Nikon D3S bodies and matching AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm F/2.8G ED lenses. Of course, when you’re NASA, where billion dollar machinery is the norm, some of the novelty is probably lost. According to Nikon, the new rigs will be used to capture activities on the International Space Station. The new gear will accompany an arsenal of Nikon gear that is already floating around the space station, which includes some D2XS bodies, speed lights and an assortment of lenses. It’s primarily meant to document things like maintenance and inspections, but with that kind of photographic firepower, it’s hard to believe those brave, space-dwelling folks won’t find at least a few minutes for an outerspace portrait session. After all, we have seen some amazing photos come out of NASA over the years.

If you’re a Facebook user, then the pose Astronaut Robert Satcher is striking should be all too familiar, which makes it even more surreal that this photo was taken while in outer space. The shot was captured during a six-hour and 37-minute spacewalk, while Satcher and Mike Foreman worked on a space station. I have been looking at it for a few minutes now and it’s incredible how much there is to notice. Until I clicked on the high-res version, I didn’t even see the other astronaut in the reflection. I would love to see some EXIF data. Click on the image above for a high-res version that’s just begging to become your desktop background.

Nikon Press Release

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