Looks like most of the new space missions carry small cameras similar to dash cams. Are they really useful?
Looks like most of the new space missions carry small cameras similar to dash cams. Are they really useful?
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They can be. We use them for another method for verifying deployment of deployables (along with limit switches, rates etc.) and sometimes operation of gimbals and to watch the thruster during those initial checkout phases. Afterwards, not so much which is why they often times aren’t required to meet the full life of the mission. Transmitting images and videos are also bandwidth hogs.
Its not cheap though to put them on even if they seem cheap as they turn into bricks shortly into the mission that you need to pay for beyond just the NRE and unit costs in propellant usage and launch costs.
An upcoming mission I’m working with is using an array of cameras to watch a deployable for proper operation. They are also positioned in a way to see outside to get a horizon/Earth view a little bit.
Back before cheap digital cameras existed tiny 16mm film cameras would be installed around on & sometimes inside spacecraft being launched.
This was to capture operation of parts you’d likely never get to examine again post flight to ensure expected operation.
BTW these cameras & the film they use are still sometimes used today to capture the pad performance during launch. Reason being is that the dynamic range of the film still cannot be matched by digital technology.
sometimes engineers want to see things work (parachute deployment)
Mars Perseverance Sol 1: Parachute Up-Look Camera B
[https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/multimedia/raw-images/EBF_0001_0667022749_609ECV_N0010052EDLC00001_0010LUJ01](https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/multimedia/raw-images/EBF_0001_0667022749_609ECV_N0010052EDLC00001_0010LUJ01)