

International Space Station HD Livestream - hownottowrite
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/17074538

======
hiharryhere
If you see a blank screen it's night. You can see the current location and
day/night status here:
[http://iss.astroviewer.net/](http://iss.astroviewer.net/)

~~~
rasz_pl
Umm any decent camera would pick up at least something, black means they turn
off the feed

\+ like someone else said 480p is not hd

~~~
lacksconfidence
the stream is gray when they turn off the feed, black is night.

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bd
Here are some snapshots I made (selected images from letting the stream run
for few hours, from about 4 orbits):

[http://imgur.com/a/99fS8](http://imgur.com/a/99fS8)

~~~
orjan
In some of the images I could see some lens info. At least one camera uses a
Dicomar lens and the camera used might be[1]. NASA's site[2] on the project
doesn't say which exact camera is used. Anyone know more about the camera
setup?

[1][http://business.panasonic.co.uk/professional-
camera/avcam/ag...](http://business.panasonic.co.uk/professional-
camera/avcam/ag-hmc151)
[2][http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experimen...](http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/917.html)

~~~
synackrst
From a NASA project presentation[0], there's a Panasonic AGHMC150, a Toshiba
IK-HR1s, a Hitachi HV-HD30, and a Sony FCB-EH4300 in the HDEV. Video routing
is done by a Extron SW4 3G HD-SDI and encoded by a Visionary Solutions AVN443.

[0]
[http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/2011001...](http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20110019797.pdf)

~~~
orjan
Thank you, good find!

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qnk
We have to understand that is a live streaming from 230 miles up in the sky.
It might not work 100% of the time, but if you're patience enough, you can
enjoy images like the one I just saw:

[http://cl.ly/image/2D0G0m0P2R3D](http://cl.ly/image/2D0G0m0P2R3D)

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orjan
A (very) quick and dirty hack to see ISS Tracker (www.isstracker.com) and the
video side by side: [http://ri.io/iss.html](http://ri.io/iss.html)

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iambateman
There are 18239 people currently watching a black screen. Goodnight moon.

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vrikis
Pretty phenomenal when you think about the speed it's going at... I just
watched it cross the Atlantic ocean and it's nearly over Europe now...

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sbarre
480p is not HD (is it?) (edit: this is still awesome, was just expecting 720
or 1080)

~~~
lacksconfidence
there is no standardized definition of HD. HDTV is 720 or 1080, but HD is
simply a generic term meaning better than standard definition.

~~~
p1mrx
The only exception I've ever seen to the "HD >= 720 lines" rule is that of
ignorant video uploaders.

~~~
lacksconfidence
do you have any official sources? I would love to update the related wikipedia
page but can't exactly cite a hacker news comment.

~~~
p1mrx
The best I can find is this:

[http://www.ce.org/CorporateSite/media/Standards-
Media/DTV_De...](http://www.ce.org/CorporateSite/media/Standards-
Media/DTV_Definitions.pdf)

But it's consistent with your previous comment, in that it only defines HDTV,
not "High Definition" as a generic term.

But given that HDTV is what caused "HD" to enter the vernacular, you'd have to
be pretty dense to call something HD Video when it doesn't meet the HDTV
standard. That would be like burning an .avi to a CD-R, and calling it a
Digital Video Disc because it's a disc with digital video on it.

Interestingly, the PDF above suggests that you could have a 960x720 4:3
display that shows letterboxed 16:9 at 540p, and still call it an "HDTV".

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JakaJancar
I would love to use this as a desktop background :)

~~~
kordless
I'm thinking D3.js powered simulator.

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1rae
I don't know why you would want to use javascript... have a look at this
cinder space simulator, it supports oculus and should be easy to convert the
cinder app to a screensaver - not to sure about a moving desktop background.
[http://roberthodgin.com/oculus-rift-gravity/](http://roberthodgin.com/oculus-
rift-gravity/)

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ljoshua
NASA's page that combines the stream with an overview of where the ISS is over
the earth at any given time:
[http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/HDEV/](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/HDEV/)

(Hint: if it is over an area of daylight you're more likely to see video. Use
the white line to see where it will be in 1.5 hours.)

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sferoze
I have been waiting for UrtheCast
([http://www.urthecast.com/](http://www.urthecast.com/)) to start live
streaming the camera they had the Russians mount on the ISS awhile back.

Is this the same camera?

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ceejayoz
Third time I've been linked to this. Third time it doesn't seem to be working.
No luck for me, it seems.

~~~
peeters
It's back up now.

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jamesxwatkins
I have a feeling that my work day is going to revolve around watching this (no
pun intended).

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tom_scrace
Do we know approximately what the delay is?

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kernelcurry
How much does that vacation cost?

------
fjcaetano
eyeporn

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treelovinhippie
Has it always been a black screen? Could just be a fake test from someone like
Urthecast to see what kind of demand a live stream would generate on launch

~~~
barkingcat
it clearly states:

"Black Image = International Space Station (ISS) is on the night side of the
Earth. "

~~~
danielweber
Is something explicitly setting it to black, or is total blackness what the
camera is capturing?

~~~
eddieroger
My reading of their comment is that there just isn't any light since it's on
the night-side of the Earth, and the Sun isn't providing any light over there.
If it were over a part of the planet with light pollution, that's probably not
strong enough to break through the atmosphere.

~~~
panzi
Artificial lighting can be seen from space (the only man made thing that can
be seen from space), but I guess the camera isn't good enough to pick it up.

~~~
ApolloRising
Actually that is incorrect. You can see the Great Pyramids from space.

Link: [http://d1jqu7g1y74ds1.cloudfront.net/wp-
content/uploads/2012...](http://d1jqu7g1y74ds1.cloudfront.net/wp-
content/uploads/2012/02/pyramids-from-space.jpg)

Supporting Article: [http://www.universetoday.com/93398/can-you-see-the-
pyramids-...](http://www.universetoday.com/93398/can-you-see-the-pyramids-
from-space/)

~~~
stormbrew
Well, this really depends on what you mean by 'see' (and I suppose what you
mean by 'space' as well, but let's just assume the ISS is the benchmark).
Pictures like that, afaik, are taken with camera lenses that look roughly like
[1]. You definitely can't make out city blocks with just your eyes from the
ISS.

[1] [http://media.the-digital-picture.com/Images/Other/Canon-
EF-8...](http://media.the-digital-picture.com/Images/Other/Canon-
EF-800mm-f-5.6-L-IS-USM-Lens/Canon-EF-800mm-f-5.6-L-IS-USM-Lens.jpg)

~~~
jonah
NASA actually has a very long history of using Nikon equipment.

Here are a couple references to (still) photography from the ISS:

[http://nikonrumors.com/2013/04/07/nikon-gear-at-the-
iss.aspx...](http://nikonrumors.com/2013/04/07/nikon-gear-at-the-iss.aspx/)

[http://nikonrumors.com/2013/11/12/low-light-
astrophotography...](http://nikonrumors.com/2013/11/12/low-light-
astrophotography-from-the-iss.aspx/)

[http://nikonrumors.com/2013/04/22/astronaut-chris-
hadfield-h...](http://nikonrumors.com/2013/04/22/astronaut-chris-hadfield-how-
to-take-photos-from-the-iss.aspx/)

[http://nikonrumors.com/2012/04/08/nikon-in-space-new-
nightpo...](http://nikonrumors.com/2012/04/08/nikon-in-space-new-nightpod-
intelligent-tripod-compensates-for-motion-when-taking-images-from-space.aspx/)

And to study quantum entanglement: [http://nikonrumors.com/2013/04/09/400mm-
nikon-lens-to-be-mod...](http://nikonrumors.com/2013/04/09/400mm-nikon-lens-
to-be-modified-at-the-iss-to-capture-photons-sent-from-earth.aspx/)

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karangoeluw
THIS IS AMAZING

[https://twitter.com/TheKaranGoel/status/463920252615548928/p...](https://twitter.com/TheKaranGoel/status/463920252615548928/photo/1)

