High above and looking down: A Sony A7S II hitches a ride on the Int’l Space Station to shoot 4K videos
posted Sunday, February 26, 2017 at 7:20 AM EST
Among the many tech demos and product cutaways in and amongst Sony's large booth at this year's CP+ Trade Show was a rather small, yet interesting little display featuring a scale model of the International Space Station and a Sony A7S II with an FE PZ 28-135mm F4 G OSS lens.
As it turns out, last year a Sony A7S II camera, protected by a specialized housing with mirrored heat-resistant shielding, hitched a ride aboard a rocket from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Japan's national space agency, and is now soaring around the globe attached to the International Space Station.
It was only just recently that the camera began recording 4K video and photos from its perch on the Japanese Experiment Module (KIBO). While details are scarce, since no press release has been issued by Sony, according to company representatives the goal of the A7S II module is to capture high-resolution media of weather, such as typhoons, cloud patterns and other environmental objects.
The KIBO module itself, the largest single module on the Space Station, began development with its first piece launching with Space Shuttle mission STS-123 in 2008 and was completed as part of STS-129 in 2009. That final mission included the installation of the "Exposed Facility," the part of the KIBO module where this unique Sony A7S II now sits.
We'll keep our eyes peeled for any upcoming footage shot by this A7S II, but in the meantime, we'll just have to enjoy these photos from their CP+ booth.
