Broadcaster National Geographic has revealed details of how it captured 7.5 seconds of Artemis II’s launch in slow motion.
The company employed the s2.5k by Freefly Systems, a high-resolution, slow-motion camera, to record the blast-off at 2,000 frames per second.
Nat Geo set the camera up around 1,500 feet away from the launchpad. As the filming site was so close to the rocket’s flames, the team hooked it up to a 60-pound lead-acid marine battery and programmed the camera to start recording in sync with NASA’s official countdown clock. It stopped recording once the noise from the launch reduced.
The Ember S2.5K allows for recording at 2.5K resolution and a maximum frame rate of 3,563 fps. It uses the Apple ProRes 422 LT codec and has a modular ecosystem, a Gpixel sensor, and an active EF-compatible lens mount.
To capture images of the Moon, NASA has used four specialised, modified GoPro cameras are mounted on the Orion spacecraft’s solar array wings, where they captured high‑resolution views of the spacecraft, Earth, and the Moon—while also serving as inspection tools during critical mission moments.
The cameras are part of NASA’s Orion Imagery System and a broader 28+ camera suite that have supported the mission.
The Artemis II crew have also been using GoPro cameras to document daily life on the mission from inside the spacecraft.
(Hero image copyright Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
