Trailblazing astronaut to star in first ultra-high-definition livestream from space
NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson is about to set yet another space flight first when she stars in the first-ever ultra high-definition livestream from space on April 26.
Sure, this is not as impressive as her record for the first female astronaut to command the International Space Station twice. Nor is it as noteworthy as the record she is poised to shatter on April 24 for the cumulative time spent in space by any American astronaut.
The standing record is 534 cumulative days in space, held by NASA Astronaut Jeff Williams, and the 56-year-old Whitson is set to pass that on April 24.
Still, the livestream will be a compelling, new way to bring the public into the Space Station environment and show off the work being done 250 miles above Earth.
The livestream, set for 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time on April 26, will be part of the National Association of Broadcasters Show in Las Vegas. Amazon Web Services will livestream the event.
According to a press release, devices capable of showing 4K ultra high-definition content will be needed to get the full experience, but lower resolution streams will be broadcast on NASA's Facebook page, the agency's website, as well as NASA TV.
An ultra high-definition video encoder and a RED Epic Dragon Digital Cinema camera were sent to the Space Station aboard a Japanese cargo craft in December.
While this will be the highest resolution livestream from space to date, the space agency has released 4K videos filmed on board the Space Station before.
Andrew Freedman is Mashable's Senior Editor for Science and Special Projects. Prior to working at Mashable, Freedman was a Senior Science writer for Climate Central. He has also worked as a reporter for Congressional Quarterly and Greenwire/E&E Daily. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Post, online at The Weather Channel, and washingtonpost.com, where he wrote a weekly climate science column for the "Capital Weather Gang" blog. He has provided commentary on climate science and policy for Sky News, CBC Radio, NPR, Al Jazeera, Sirius XM Radio, PBS NewsHour, and other national and international outlets. He holds a Masters in Climate and Society from Columbia University, and a Masters in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University.
