From the EXIF we can infer that every setting was left at the default. No exposure comp, no contrast, no HSL, no lens correction and a linear tone curve. Just the default Adobe Color profile at 5400K.

On which NASA website are these raw images posted?

The photograph appears to show nightime on Earth with just a sliver of daytime. Beyond cities in Iberia and along the coast of Africa, most of what we can see would be reflected light from the Moon? We are just past full moon on April 1.

But that one (art002e000193~large.jpg) is only 287kB. The Lightroom-processed one is 6.2MB. I would expect original to be heavier.

Might I ask, what was your path to finding this image?

Maybe it’s because I (like many) have experienced taking pictures at night and seeing the grainy result that _this_ image struck me as incredibly realistic.

Almost like I ran the grainy-to-real conversion in my mind and I felt like I was imagining seeing this in person. Beautiful image!

> I'd have probably shot it wide open at f/2.8 rather than cranking the ISO up to 51200.

One of the reasons the D5 supposedly was chosen was because of its high dynamic and good low light performance. It can go up to ISO 3,280,000:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikon_D5

The D5 has been used on the ISS, including EVAs, since 2017, so is a known quantity:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cameras_on_the_Interna...

You can get a D5 on amazon.com. It would be amazing if one of the astronauts did a review explaining how it performs in space.

I would imagine since they are not circling the earth, that there will be pull of gravity and the camera would start to move relative to the spacecraft. But may not fast enough for a short exposure

They're in space so they only sort of need to hold the camera.

The D5 doesn't have built in GPS, and adding it requires an attachment. I don't know if the smartphone app works on that model, but it is from the same year as my D5600 which does support it. The app provides GPS but also drains the battery fast. I turned airplane mode on after the first dead battery.

GPS might work out there though: https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/somd/space-communications-...

"The Nikon D5 remains the camera of choice for the Artemis II mission and will be assigned primary photographic duties. It is a proven, highly-tested camera that the Artemis II team knows will excel in the high-radiation environment of space. However, as Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman explained ahead of yesterday’s launch, he successfully fought to have a single Nikon Z9 added to Artemis II’s manifest."

https://petapixel.com/2026/04/02/a-nikon-z9-made-it-aboard-t...

There are more interesting details in the PetaPixel article, such as: "'That’s the camera that they’ll be using, the crew will be using on Artemis III plus, so we were fighting really hard to get that on the vehicle to test out in a high-radiation environment in deep space,' Wiseman said."

H/t to "SiliconEagle73" who linked to that PetaPixel article in the thread linked below.

https://old.reddit.com/r/nasa/comments/1sbfevm/new_high_reso...

> Wonder why they didn't go for the Z9 which is its modern mirrorless equivalent.

From [0], "The D5 was chosen for its radiation resistance, extreme ISO range (up to 3,280,000), and proven reliability in space." (

[0] https://www.photoworkout.com/artemis-ii-nikon-d5-moon/

They did bring the Z9: https://petapixel.com/2026/04/02/a-nikon-z9-made-it-aboard-t...

But yeah the grainy photo of the Earth with the D5 at ISO 51200 shows the shortcomings of the ancient DSLR. Still, great shot.

Zero point in measuring camera sizes (or other sizes haha) when JWST is floating there.

Government budgets man…

They have a Z9 on board for radiation testing, but the D5 is the primary body for imaging on this mission IIRC

When you're riding a rocket that weighs 3.5 million pounds...