Credit: NASA
HDEV camera equipment. Credit: NASA
A new treat for the eye is available via NASA’s High Definition Earth Viewing (HDEV) experiment. Recently activated, the HD cameras are situated on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS).
The HDEV experiment yields live streaming video of Earth for viewing online.
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.
Four different commercial high definition cameras are affixed to the European Space Agency’s Columbus External Facility.
The HDEV activity has a primary objective to validate the space-based performance of the cameras in a variety of operating modes.
More specifically, they are onboard the ISS to exercise and demonstrate the features and longevity of Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) cameras.
The HDEV visible HD video cameras are a fixed payload camera system that requires no zoom, no pan or tilt mechanisms. The four fixed cameras are positioned to capture imagery of the Earth’s surface and its limb as seen from the ISS.
So have a look by going to:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/iss-hdev-payload
NOTE: The HDEV experiment was activated April 30, 2014 – and is undergoing initial checkout and validation.
By Leonard David