May 1, 2014

Watch the Earth From Space, Live!

Live streaming video by Ustream It doesn’t get much better than this (well, of course being in space might be better, albeit colder).

By Caleb A. Scharf

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

Live streaming video by Ustream

It doesn't get much better than this (well, of course being in space might be better, albeit colder). The above is streaming video, live from the International Space Station and the High Definition Earth Viewing (HDEV) experiment that was lofted to orbit by a SpaceX Dragon craft just days ago. If it looks black, that's because the ISS is in night, just wait and within about 45 minutes it'll be day again. You can check the ISS location here. Otherwise interruptions may be due to simple internet traffic - just try again later.

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To quote the HDEV NASA site:

"The High Definition Earth Viewing (HDEV) experiment places four commercially available HD cameras on the exterior of the space station and uses them to stream live video of Earth for viewing online. The cameras are enclosed in a temperature specific housing and are exposed to the harsh radiation of space. Analysis of the effect of space on the video quality, over the time HDEV is operational, may help engineers decide which cameras are the best types to use on future missions. High school students helped design some of the cameras' components, through the High Schools United with NASA to Create Hardware (HUNCH) program, and student teams operate the experiment."

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