I found this very informative pdf while trying to find what cameras are being used to take photos on the space shuttle.
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/n...magery2005.pdf
It talks about the various telescopes and cameras on the ground, the high altitude aircraft that were filming the launch, and the cameras on the shuttle itself.
The two points that I found the most interesting are:
* The digital still cameras on the shuttle are special versions (for vacuum and temperature extremes) of the Kodak DSC760 digital SLR which is a Nikon F5 body. This is a 2001 camera so it's slightly ancient in digital SLR terms. The cameras on the ISS are DSC660 from 1999.
* The lens for the cameras on the WB-57 high altitude aircraft is a 11" Celestron telescope! I was surprised that a Celestron scope made it in there.
