This is the coolest camera lens swap you’ll ever see

By Trevor Mogg Published January 20, 2025

Don Pettit has been at it again. Not content with dazzling earthlings with incredible photos captured from his current home aboard the International Space Station (ISS), the NASA astronaut has now taken us behind the camera to show you the coolest lens change you’ve ever seen.

Back on terra firma where gravity lives, changing a lens can sometimes be a cumbersome affair that leaves you wishing you had two pairs of hands instead of one.

But up in orbit, master photographer Pettit has found a way to make the most of the space station’s microgravity conditions when it comes to swapping camera lenses. In a video (below) shared on X, we see the NASA astronaut with a floating camera that has a lens attached, alongside a second lens, which is also floating.

First, Pettit removes the lens from the camera, and then leaves the lens floating in position in the microgravity environment. He then removes the rear lens cap from the other lens before attaching it to the camera body, which he then leaves floating in front of him. Finally, Pettit grabs the first lens and puts the rear lens cap on, and then returns it to its floating position. Job done!

How to change a camera lens…… pic.twitter.com/JUujYAYSiI

— Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) January 18, 2025

Besides carrying out work on various experiments during his six-month stay aboard the ISS, Pettit has also been sharing some superb images and footage of Earth and beyond.

His most recent effort offered an unusual view of Blue Origin’s recent launch of the New Glenn rocket as it blasted to space for the first time.

In another post (below) that he shared on Monday, Pettit revealed how he set up several cameras inside the station’s Cupola, a seven-window module that offers panoramic views of Earth and beyond.

“To photograph New Glenn, I set up three cameras with wide angle lens in the Cupola, figuring one would catch its exo-atmospheric trajectory,” Pettit said in the post.

To photograph New Glenn, I set up three cameras with wide angle lens in the Cupola, figuring one would catch its exo-atmospheric trajectory. pic.twitter.com/412gvfnW84

— Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) January 19, 2025