Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer

Flown on shuttle Challenger in 1984, NASA designed the Large Format Camera (LFC) as a demonstration for acquiring high-fidelity reference mapping data of the Earth’s surface. Interest in such data spanned a range of governmental actors (including NASA, Department of Energy, and US Geological Survey) and, especially, companies that might take up this technology as a market opportunity.

That latter emphasis of the program represented a 1970s/80s shift in policy to move space-based applications projects from government to market auspices—and of the shuttle’s role in facilitating such policy.

A key objective of the LFC program was to demonstrate that the camera could acquire images to produce maps at the standard cartographic scale of 1:50,000. To achieve this result, the camera optics needed to provide 10-15 meter resolution, with a film format of 9 x 18 inches--hence the terminology "large format" to describe the camera.

This object is the original camera flown in space. NASA transferred the LFC to the Museum in 2017.

 Display Status

This object is on display in James S. McDonnell Space Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.

James S. McDonnell Space Hangar
Object Details
Country of Origin United States of America Type EQUIPMENT-Photographic Manufacturer ITEK Corporation
 Dimensions 3-D: 130.8 × 113 × 221cm, 308.9kg (4 ft. 3 1/2 in. × 3 ft. 8 1/2 in. × 7 ft. 3 in., 681lb.)
 Materials Aluminum, glass, copper, plastic
 Inventory Number T20180005000 Credit Line Transferred from NASA Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.