NASA to broadcast live HDTV

Live, from outer space, it’s the space station.

Next week will be the first time in history that NASA has broadcast live in HDTV. In the past, they have flown with the HD cameras – which provide six times the resolution as the regular cameras – but since they were not set up to transmit the film, scientist were forced to wait until the end of the mission to view the tapes.

In a sign of true world cooperation, the HDTV experiment was put together by NASA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Discovery HD Theater, and Japanese broadcast Network NHK. The broadcast, known as Space Video Gateway, is a wonderful opportunity for the general public to experience space and an invaluable tool for scientist who will no longer have to wait until the end of missions to do their work.

The live broadcast is scheduled for November 15 at 10:30 am CST. It will be carried on Discovery HD Theater, NHK, and will also be shown at Discovery Channel stores. The crew will serve as the cast and the film crew for the broadcast. The equipment and the downlink signals were delivered to the space station by the shuttle Atlantis in September.

The cooperation of the groups is not knew and stems from the Space Act Agreement that was signed in 2002. This is the first HD attempt by the group.