Westinghouse Lunar Color Camera
- Usage: Apollo 10 (CSM), Apollo 11 (CSM), Apollo 12, Apollo 13, Apollo 14, Apollo 15 (CSM), Apollo 16 (CSM), Apollo 17 (CSM)
- Additional planned usage not implemented: Skylab Orbital Test flights prior to 1980. The ASTP cameras were modified to fly on the shuttle had the STS CCTV system not been available for the hoped 1979 maiden launch. by the time STS-1 flew the RCA CCTV system was already in place. (Crew Station Closed Circuit Television CCTV for Operational Flight Tests 08.06.1976)
- Resolution: more than 200 TV lines (SEC sensor - 350 TV Lines in vertical dimension)
- Scan rate: 59.94+ fields/s monochrome (color filters alternated between each field) / 29.97+ frame/s / 525 lines/fr / 15734.26+ lines/s
- Color: Field-sequential color system camera
- Bandwidth: Real 4.5 MHz / 2 MHz up to 3 MHz (transmitter limitation)
- Sensor: Secondary-Electron-Conduction (SEC) Tube
- Optics: 6x zoom, F/4 to F/44
This camera was based on the TV camera used on previous missions inside the CSM, with modifications to adapt it to the lunar environment.
During the early part of the first Apollo 12 EVA, the camera was inadvertently pointed at the Sun while preparing to mount it on the tripod. This action caused an overload in the secondary electron conduction tube (sensitive for low light conditions), rendering the camera useless for the remainder of the mission. The camera worked properly for about forty-two minutes. On later missions, while modifications were made to prevent such accidents, problems were encountered with image brightness and contrast (and sharpness – due to the camera overheating while stored, and operating in the MESA).
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Apollo 10 TV image of Earth
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Apollo 11 TV image
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Westinghouse color camera on the Lunar surface during Apollo 12
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Apollo 14 EVA image
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Edgar Mitchell with the Apollo 14 camera
Read more about this topic: Apollo TV Camera
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