A Japanese astronaut will take pictures of earth using an Olympus E-3 digital SLR camera as part of Olympus’s 90th anniversary celebrations.

The camera – and the firm?s Zuiko Digital lenses ? will be carried by Dr Koichi Wakata on the next launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery, due to blast off for the International Space Station next month.

The resulting images will be posted on Olympus websites and displayed at exhibitions.