Video Shows Off Awesome Franken-Kodak DSLR Aboard 1991 Space Shuttle

It’s #throwbackthursday, right? Good, because we have a rather interesting piece of photography history to share with you, courtesy of NASA, Nikon and Kodak.

Believe it or not, there was a point in time when Kodak was the front-runner in the digital photography world (crazy, we know…), and it all started with a little help from NASA back in 1991.

Called the Kodak Hawkeye II, this Franken-camera was made up of a Kodak-built 1.3-megapixel CCD sensor — and accompanying wiring — attached to the back of a Nikon F3 body. This setup turned an otherwise analogue beast into the first digital camera to make its way to space.

The process of taking pictures with this camera wasn’t quite as simple as we’ve become accustomed to, though. The camera was attached to a processing unit and power supply by means of a 20-pin serial connector, and the resulting shots were stored on a whopping 100MB hard drive.

Thankfully, technology has come a long way. But all jokes aside, it’s always fascinating to see the humble beginnings of our digital photographic endeavors.