|
Another
Historic
First
Images
from the
world's
first high
definition
television
(HDTV)
broadcast
from space
flashed
across the
screen
yesterday
in Times
Square. On
Nov. 15,
2006, NASA
made
history
with the
first live
HDTV
broadcasts
from
space, in
cooperation
with the
Japan
Aerospace
Exploration
Agency,
Discovery
HD Theater
and
Japanese
broadcast
network
NHK.
The two
HDTV
broadcasts
featured
Expedition
14
Commander
Michael
Lopez-Alegria
on the
International
Space
Station,
with
Flight
Engineer
Thomas
Reiter
serving as
camera
operator
aboard the
220-mile-high
laboratory.
"HDTV
provides
up to six
times the
resolution
of regular
analog
video,"
said
Rodney
Grubbs,
NASA
principal
investigator.
"On
previous
missions,
we've
flown HDTV
cameras
but had to
wait until
after the
mission to
retrieve
the tapes,
watch the
video and
share it
with the
science
and
engineering
community,
the media
and the
public.
For the
first time
ever, this
test lets
us stream
live HDTV
from space
so the
public can
experience
what its
like to be
there."
Known as
the Space
Video
Gateway,
the system
transmits
high
bandwidth
digital
television
signals to
the ground
that are
not only
spectacular,
but also
valuable
to
scientists,
engineers
and
managers.
NASA and
the Japan
Aerospace
Exploration
Agency,
along with
both NHK
and
Discovery,
are
cooperating
in this
effort
though a
Space Act
Agreement
originally
signed in
2002. |
