Urthecast today revealed that it is ready to switch on a continuous, colour video feed of the planet from ISS cameras (inset) in high-definition. And in preparation, the Vancouver-based firm has launched the first ever, full-colour HD videos of Earth – showing London (pictured), Boston and Barcelona – at an incredible 3.2ft (1 metre) resolution. This is detailed enough to be able to see cars and even people moving around the planet, and it’s only a teaser of what is to come.
The world’s biggest reality show is about to go live.
Urthecast today revealed that it is ready to switch on a continuous, colour video feed of the planet from the ISS in high-definition.
And in preparation, it has launched the first ever, full-colour HD videos of Earth – showing London, Boston and Barcelona – at an incredible 3.2ft (1 metre) resolution.
Urthecast today revealed that it is ready to switch on a continuous, colour video feed of the planet from the ISS in high-definition. And in preparation, it has launched the first ever, full-colour HD videos of Earth – showing London (pictured), Boston and Barcelona
This is detailed enough to be able to see cars and even people moving around the planet, and it’s only a teaser of what is to come.
‘We’re revealing a perspective of Earth from space that was previously reserved for a small few,’ said Scott Larso, UrtheCast co-founder.
The videos were taken by a high-resolution camera fitted to the ISS, known as Iris, which rides on a steerable, gyro-stabilised platform controlled by a computer on the ISS.
The computers cancels out, in real-time, any vibrations caused by movements of the ISS, while keeping the camera pointed at different areas for about a minute at a time.
Pictured is a screenshot of footage taken from Boston from the ISS at an incredible 3.2ft (1 metre) resolution. This is detailed enough to be able to see cars and even people moving around the planet, and it’s only a teaser of what is to come
HOW THE CAMERAS WORK
Urthecast has installed two cameras on the ISS. The first is a high-resolution camera fitted, known as Iris, which can capture footage at 3.2ft (1 metre) resolution.
It rides on a steerable, gyro-stabilised platform controlled by a computer on the ISS.
The computers cancels out, in real-time, any vibrations caused by astronauts’ movements.
The company has another fixed in place outside the ISS, dubbed Theia, which boasts a 5-metre-per-pixel-resolution.
As the ISS circles the world 15 times per day, the two cameras will constantly be rolling and capturing unique videos and imagery.
Ranging in length from 34 to 47 seconds, and covering areas of up to 1.19 x 0.67 miles (1.92 x 1.08 km), the footage is, as of yet, unparalleled.
Wade Larson, UrtheCast co-founder, said: ‘We are realising UrtheCast’s mission to bring something really quite unique to the Earth Observation industry.
‘With today’s video release, we continue to move towards being able to deliver fast, scalable, and affordable Earth Observation imagery’
The company has another camera fixed in place outside the ISS, dubbed Theia, which boasts a five-metre-per-pixel-resolution.
Russian cosmonauts took a spacewalk in January outside the ISS to complete the camera work on the Earth-observing cameras.
Expedition 38 Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy of the Russian Federal Space Agency installed the cameras on the hull of the station’s Zvezda Service Module.
The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, agreed to host the cameras on the $100 billion station for UrtheCast, a project of 15 countries.
This was in exchange for rights to use images and video taken over Russia. UrtheCast has commercial rights to images and video of the rest of the world.
The space company was founded by Wade Larson, a veteran of the Canadian space sector for almost two decades.
Ranging in length from 34 to 47 seconds, and covering areas of up to 1.19 x 0.67 miles (1.92 x 1.08 km), the footage is, as of yet, unparalleled. Pictured is an area of Barcelona taken by the Urthecast team and released today
The videos were taken by a high-resolution camera fitted to the ISS, known as Iris (left), which rides on a gyro-stabilised platform. Urthecast’s separate 5-metre resolution camera Theia captured part of the Libyan Desert in western Egypt earlier this year (right)
He installed the cameras on the space station to provide a stream of live video, not just of generic Earth, but of specific events as they unfold below.
The space station orbits the Earth fifteen times a day. A constant stream of video has made major events on Earth viewable from space as they take place.
UrtheCast says it will make the cameras commercially available in July to anyone who wants to use them, from governments and non-profit organisations, to businesses and universities.
For example, a real-time view of Earth will give scientists a powerful tool to monitor climate change.
Basic accounts are free and provide a live stream of imagery as the cameras fly overhead and time lapses of favourite places.
Premium accounts for enable users paying a fee to track an area without sharing it with others and to monitor larger areas of interest as well as applying image processing techniques to reveal data.
UrtheCast said it plans to install two more cameras on the station, on the U.S. side of the ISS.
These cameras will double the resolution of the existing technology, from one metre per pixel on the ground to half a metre.
Bathurst and Melville Island are the two main islands that comprise the Tiwi Islands off the coast of northern Australia. Urthecast’s 5-metre resolution camera, Theia, captured the swirling turquoise waters entering Apsley Strait
Urthecast has installed two cameras on the ISS. The first is a high-resolution camera fitted, known as Iris, which can capture footage at 3.2ft (1 metre) resolution. The company has another fixed in place outside the ISS, dubbed Theia (left). The right image shows Earth’s 11th largest freshwater lake, Lake Winnipeg, is captured from Theia
Tassili n‘Ajjer, a mountain range in southeast Algeria, is known for its prehistoric art and architectural sites. Theia, Urthecast’s 5-meter resolution camera captures this unique sandstone landscape known as rock forests
