| The Cassini Imaging Science System was specifically designed for exploring the Saturn system, and includes spectral filters and imaging capabilities for a multitude of scientific objectives, including capturing lightning, investigating the three dimensional cloud structure and meteorology of the Saturn and Titan atmospheres, imaging the surfaces of its many icy satellites, determining the composition and structure of its enormous ring system, and peering through the hazy Titan atmosphere down its still unexplored surface. The ISS consists of two framing cameras. The narrow angle camera is a reflecting telescope with a focal length of 2000 mm and a field of view of 0.35 degrees. The wide angle camera is a refractor with a focal length of 200 mm and a field of view of 3.5 degrees. Each camera is outfitted with a large number of spectral filters which, taken together, span the electromagnetic spectrum from 2000 Angstroms to 1.1 microns. At the heart of each camera is a charged coupled device (CCD) detector consisting of a 1024 square array of pixels, each 12 microns on a side. The data system allows many options for data collection, including choices for on-chip summing and data compression. For a detailed description of the Imaging Science Subsystem, its observational capabilities, and the Cassini Imaging Team's science objectives at Saturn, see the Imaging Team's report 'Cassini Imaging Science: Instrument Characteristics and Anticipated Scientific Investigations at Saturn,' published in 2004 in the journal Space Science Reviews. For additional information about the Cassini spacecraft, its mission and instruments, see JPL's Cassini site. While the Imaging Science Team was responsible for guiding the development of the cameras and ensuring their scientific utility, the following individuals at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory played major roles in the actual building and testing of the cameras between the years 1990 and 1997:
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Formerly the site for the High Definition Earth-Viewing System (HDEV) : Operational: April 30, 2014 – End of Life: August 22, 2019.
See more information below.
Currently, live video of Earth is streaming from an external HD camera mounted on the ISS. The camera is looking toward Earth with an occasional solar panel passing through the view.
Can I See The Iss With My Telescope
To learn more about the HDEV experiment, visit HDEV's experiment investigation page.
- Black = on the nighttime side of the Earth
- Gray = The ground support computer has stopped sending video to USTREAM (IBM Video) and will be reset shortly.
- Moving spots of light in the dark = lights on the surface of the Earth. This camera can see cities at night (if not cloudy)
- Non-moving spots in the image = damaged or bad pixels
ISS High Definition Live Streaming Video of the Earth
ISERV, short for ISS SERVIR Environmental Research and Visualization System, is the program's first exclusive space asset. ISERV has been operating since 2013, and in that time has taken hundreds of pictures of earth that have been used to assist in disaster response, environmental management, and humanitarian relief efforts. ISS pass over Gattinara in Italy on 3 January 2006 Alberto Zampieron from Gattinara, near Vercelli, in Italy, sent us his ISS image (right) which he took using using a Newton 114/900 telescope and a webcam. ISS over Cordoba, Spain - 4 July 2006.
After HDEV stopped sending any data on July 18, 2019, it was declared, on August 22, 2019, to have reached its end of life. Thank You to all who shared in experiencing and using the HDEV views of Earth from the ISS to make HDEV so much more than a Technology Demonstration Payload! Speedify faster internet.
The High Definition Earth Viewing (HDEV) experiment mounted on the ISS External Payload Facility of the European Space Agency's Columbus module was activated April 30, 2014 and after 5 years and 79 days was viewed by more than 318 million viewers across the globe on USTREAM (now IBM Video) alone.
Click here to read the Final Report: High Definition Earth Viewing (HDEV).
(Requires a PDF reader.)
Highlights:
Iss Fly By Telescope
Iss Telescope Live Stream
As the HDEV feed is not usually recorded and publically archived, we suggest the use of open-source or commercially available screen recording software for capture of video segments.
International Space Station Through Telescope
For all questions regarding the current external camera or the former HDEV experiment, please contact Carlos Fontanot or Chris Getteau.
