The Artemis II Astronauts Encountered Issues with GoPro Max Action Cameras on Board the Orion Spacecraft

During the Artemis II mission, astronauts had to "deal with" a few minor unexpected issues. Nothing truly catastrophic or dangerous, with resolutions arriving in a matter of hours.

Shortly after launching from the Kennedy Space Center aboard the NASA SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, U.S. astronaut Christina Koch had to make a repair to the toilet of the Orion Integrity capsule, a problem that was resolved almost immediately.

Also in the early hours, another issue arose from the inability to get responses from the crew, a situation that was later restored with the astronauts confirming they had received all the information from the mission control center. Interestingly, in recent hours, a small problem emerged with the management of personal communication software, particularly with Microsoft Outlook, which stopped functioning.

Canadian astronaut (CSA) Jeremy Hansen reported that one of the GoPro Max action cameras, used to film a documentary for National Geographic, kept resetting to factory settings. The reason for this behavior of the action camera is not yet clear, but Jenni Gibbons from mission control suggested it could be related to exposure to cosmic radiation.

Jeremy Hansen then had to configure a second GoPro Max that is on board Orion to allow for the filming of the documentary dedicated to the Artemis II mission, which will be available via streaming once the mission is concluded. This offers a unique perspective for all space enthusiasts and simply curious individuals.

The Artemis II astronauts, after resolving the issue with the GoPro Max cameras intended for the crew, explored the possibility of capturing 360° images, correctly exposing the lunar surface that will appear particularly bright and could lead to overexposed images.

It’s worth noting that the GoPro Max is an action camera equipped with two lenses and two sensors to capture the surrounding environment in 360° at a resolution of 6K, while in traditional mode it reaches 1440p. The supported formats are H.265 and H.264 with a maximum video bitrate of 78 Mbps. Advanced features such as HyperSmooth Max, Slo-Mo 2x, exposure control, and live streaming at 1080p are included. The battery is lithium-ion with a capacity of 1600 mAh and is waterproof up to 5 meters without a case.

It should also be considered that the images seen during NASA's streaming that frame the rear section of the European service module are actually taken by other modified GoPro cameras located at the ends of the solar panels (which are thus used like selfie sticks).