Space Station Archives

December 8, 2013December 23, 2015 by Ken Kremer

Heat Shield for 2014 Orion Test Flight Arrives at Kennedy Aboard NASA’s Super Guppy

Orion EFT-1 heat shield is off loaded from NASA’s Super Guppy aircraft after transport from Manchester, N.H., and arrival at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 5, 2013. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
Story updated[/caption]

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – The heat shield crucial to the success of NASA’s 2014 Orion test flight has arrived at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) aboard the agency’s Super Guppy aircraft – just spacious enough to fit the precious cargo inside.

Orion is currently under development as NASA’s next generation human rated vehicle to replace the now retired space shuttle. The heat shields advent is a key achievement on the path to the spacecraft’s maiden flight.

“The heat shield which we received today marks a major milestone for Orion. It is key to the continued assembly of the spacecraft,” Scott Wilson, NASA’s Orion Manager of Production Operations at KSC, told Universe Today during an interview at the KSC shuttle landing facility while the offloading was in progress.

“It will be installed onto the bottom of the Orion crew module in March 2014.”

The inaugural flight of Orion on the unmanned Exploration Flight Test – 1 (EFT-1) mission is scheduled to blast off from the Florida Space Coast in mid September 2014 atop a Delta 4 Heavy booster, Wilson told me.

Orion EFT-1 heat shield moved off from NASA’s Super Guppy aircraft after arrival at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 5, 2013. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com

The heat shield was flown in from Textron Defense Systems located near Boston, Massachusetts and offloaded from the Super Guppy on Dec. 5 as Universe Today observed the proceedings along with top managers from NASA and Orion’s prime contractor Lockheed Martin.

“The Orion heat shield is the largest of its kind ever built. Its wider than the Apollo and Mars Science Laboratory heat shields,” Todd Sullivan told Universe Today at KSC. Sullivan is the heat shield senior manager at Lockheed Martin.

The state-of-the-art Orion crew capsule will ultimately enable astronauts to fly to deep space destinations including the Moon, Asteroids, Mars and beyond – throughout our solar system.

The heat shield was one of the last major pieces of hardware needed to complete Orion’s exterior structure.

“Production of the heat shields primary structure that carries all the loads began at Lockheed Martin’s Waterton Facility near Denver,” said Sullivan. The titanium composite skeleton and carbon fiber skin were manufactured there to give the heat shield its shape and provide structural support during landing.

“It was then shipped to Textron in Boston in March,” for the next stage of assembly operations, Sullivan told me.

“They applied the Avcoat ablater material to the outside. That’s what protects the spacecraft from the heat of reentry.”

Textron technicians just completed the final work of installing a fiberglass-phenolic honeycomb structure onto the heat shield skin. Then they filled each of the honeycomb’s 320,000 cells with the ablative material Avcoat.

Orion EFT-1 heat shield hauled off NASA’s Super Guppy aircraft after arrival at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 5, 2013. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com

Each cell was X-rayed and sanded to match Orion’s exacting design specifications.

“Now we have about two and a half months of work ahead to prepare the Orion crew module before the heat shield is bolted on and installed,” Sullivan explained.

The Avcoat-treated shell will shield Orion from the extreme heat of nearly 4000 degrees Fahrenheit it experiences during the blazing hot temperatures it experiences as it returns at high speed to Earth. The ablative material will wear away as it heats up during the capsules atmospheric re-entry thereby preventing heat from being transferred to the rest of the capsule and saving it and the human crew from utter destruction.

“Testing the heat shield is one of the prime objectives of the EFT-1 flight,” Wilson explained.

“The Orion EFT-1 capsule will return at over 20,000 MPH,” Wilson told me. “That’s about 80% of the reentry speed experienced by the Apollo capsule after returning from the Apollo moon landing missions.”

“The big reason to get to those high speeds during EFT-1 is to be able to test out the thermal protection system, and the heat shield is the biggest part of that.”

Hoisting Orion heat shield at KSC for transport to Orion crew module in the Operations and Checkout Building. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com

The two-orbit, four- hour EFT-1 flight will lift the Orion spacecraft and its attached second stage to an orbital altitude of 3,600 miles, about 15 times higher than the International Space Station (ISS) – and farther than any human spacecraft has journeyed in 40 years.

“Numerous sensors and instrumentation have been specially installed on the EFT-1 heat shield and the back shell tiles to collect measurements of things like temperatures, pressures and stresses during the extreme conditions of atmospheric reentry,” Wilson explained.

Orion managers pose with heat shield at KSC; Scott Wilson, NASA Orion deputy manager of Production Operations; Todd Sullivan, heat shield senior manager at Lockheed Martin; Stu Mcclung, NASA Orion deputy manager of Production Operations. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com

The data gathered during the unmanned EFT-1 flight will aid in confirming. or refuting, design decisions and computer models as the program moves forward to the first flight atop NASA’s mammoth SLS booster in 2017 on the EM-1 mission and human crewed missions thereafter.

“I’m very proud of the work we’ve done, excited to have the heat shield here [at KSC] and anxious to get it installed,” Sullivan concluded.

Stay tuned here for continuing Orion, Chang’e 3, LADEE, MAVEN and MOM news and Ken’s reports from on site at Cape Canaveral & the Kennedy Space Center press site.

Ken Kremer

…………….

Learn more about Orion, MAVEN, MOM, Mars rovers, Chang’e 3, SpaceX, and more at Ken’s upcoming presentations

Dec 10: “Antares ISS Launch from Virginia, Mars and SpaceX Mission Update”, Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 8 PM

Dec 11: “Curiosity, MAVEN and the Search for Life on Mars”, “LADEE & Antares ISS Launches from Virginia”, Rittenhouse Astronomical Society, Franklin Institute, Phila, PA, 8 PM

Departure of NASA’s Super Guppy from the shuttle landing runway at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 5, 2013 after removal of Orion heat shield. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com — Takeoff of NASA’s Super Guppy from the shuttle landing runway at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 5, 2013 after removal of Orion heat shield. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com

December 3, 2013December 30, 2015 by Jason Major

This Time-Lapse ISS Video Isn’t Just Another Time-Lapse ISS Video

It’s actually remarkably beautiful, and well worth two minutes of your time.*

Assembled from actual photographs taken by astronauts aboard the Space Station, many of them by Don Pettit during Expedition 31 (Don took a lot of photos) this timelapse “The World Outside My Window” by David Peterson ramps up the artistic value by featuring super-duper high definition, smoothed frame transitions and a musical score by “Two Steps From Hell.” (Don’t worry, that sounds scarier than it is.) Even if you’ve seen some of these clips before, they’re worth another go.

After all, there’s no good reason not to be reminded of how beautiful our planet is from space. Enjoy!

*It’s actually two minutes and twenty-eight seconds but I don’t think you’ll mind.

November 29, 2013December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Spacesuit Leak And Fist Pumps: Ride Along With Astronaut’s Eventful Space Station Mission

Expedition 36/37's Luca Parmitano, a European Space Agency astronaut, moments after landing Nov. 10, 2013. Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi

The big news around astronaut circles these days is the assignment of Takuya Onishi — from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency — to Expedition 48/49 around June 2016. Onishi is from the class of 2009, and we’re guessing he’d be sure to poll his classmates on how their mission training is going.

Well, another of the 2009 astronaut class — Luca Parmitano — just returned from six months in space. It was an eventful mission, with Parmitano facing down a scary water leak during a spacewalk, using the Canadarm to berth and let go of a cargo spacecraft, and then delighting the Internet with enthusiastic fist pumps just minutes after he landed.

Parmitano speaks about the science on station (up to 150 experiments at one time!) as well as what he was experiencing during the leak:

“We were starting our third task, and I felt some water on the back of my head,” he said in an undated video from orbit included in the new video. “And I realized it was cold water. It was not a normal feeling. So I called ground, and that point we called to terminate the EVA.”

But he made it back safely, and looks more than ready to take on another mission in this picture. The cause of the leak is still under investigation, and NASA is holding off on more spacewalks with American suits until they figure out what happened.

Parmitano’s mission also featured a unique collaboration with teenager Abby Harrison, who broadcasted her own question-and-answer sessions with him for the astronaut to reach a younger audience.

November 27, 2013December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Astronauts To Chase Down Turkey Meal For Thanksgiving

NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio inspects a spacesuit during repairs in the Quest airlock aboard the International Space Station. Taken during Expedition 38 in November 2013. Credit: NASA

Judging from the way those food packets are floating around, looks like the folks on the International Space Station will have to catch their turkey! NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins, two of the six people working on Expedition 38, recently shared their plans for U.S. Thanksgiving on Thursday.

“Though we miss our families, it’s great to be in space. As astronauts, this is what we train for and this is where we want to be. Opportunities to fly in space are rare, so we have to take advantage of them whenever they occur,” Hopkins said in the message.

The best part of this missive? Watching the astronauts casually toss the microphone back and forth in between their statements. That’s the fun of recording in microgravity.

Thanksgiving will be a full workday on station as the astronauts continue to work on their experiments. A recent status report indicated that Mastracchio (the crew medical officer) was examining Hopkins’ eyes as part of ongoing work looking at how microgravity affects ocular health. Flight controllers also moved one of the solar arrays for Mastracchio to take pictures and monitor how the mast is doing “for future inspections”, NASA stated.

November 21, 2013December 23, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Take a Virtual 3-D Spacewalk Outside the International Space Station

The International Space Station in March 2009 as seen from the departing STS-119 space shuttle Discovery crew. Credit: NASA/ESA

Time to pull out your 3-D glasses (the red-blue kind works the best) and take a virtual spacewalk with this new video from ESA. It gives you that “Gravity”-type experience — without the spinning. But as you travel around on your jetpack, this VR video gives you a good appreciation for the size of the ISS. You also get to watch a Soyuz spacecraft undock and the docking of an Automated Transfer Vehicle.

November 21, 2013December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Pew! Pew! Laser On The Space Station Will Beam Video To Earth

Artist's conception of an astronaut installing the Optical PAyload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS) experiment, which will be installed on the Earth-facing side of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

Videos will beam to Earth on a laser beam in a technology demonstration coming to the International Space Station soon, says NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The Optical PAyload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS) plans to move videos from space to an Optical Communications Telescope Laboratory in Wrightwood, Calif. Each demonstration test will last about 100 seconds, while the station and the ground receiver can “see” each other.

While the experiment sounds awesome for sending back “home videos” from space, NASA is more touting it as a boon for transferring loads of scientific data back to Earth.

“The scientific instruments in near-Earth and deep-space missions increasingly require higher communication rates to transmit their gathered data back to Earth or to support high-data-rate applications (e.g., high-definition video streams),” stated the OPALS webpage at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“Optical communications (also referred to as ‘lasercomm’) is an emerging technology wherein data is modulated onto laser beams, which offers the promise of much higher data rates than what is achievable with radio-frequency (RF) transmissions.”

How the Optical PAyload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS) experiment will work on the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

The experiment page (last updated in May) says it is intended to work for about a year, with the current Expedition 37/38 and forthcoming 39/40 crews. That said, it appears the payload is not aboard station yet.

A July update from NASA said the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is supposed to ferry OPALS to space. There hasn’t been a Dragon flight since that time, but SpaceX is listing one more for 2013 on its launch manifest.

Diagram of the Optical PAyload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS) experiment. It includes three elements: (1) a sealed container that includes the laser, a power board and avionics (2) an optical gimbal transceiver that has an uplink camera, and laser collimater for downlink (3) a Flight Releasable Attachment Mechanism (FRAM), a mechanical and electrical link to the International Space Station and launch vehicle. Credit: NASA

Laser communication hit headlines earlier this fall when the NASA Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) sent a packet of information by laser from the moon, breaking records in terms of download rate (622 megabits per second).

November 20, 2013December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

What Day 1 On The International Space Station Was Like For The Astronauts

Astronaut Jerry Ross during one of three December 1998 spacewalks to get the space station ready for human habitation. Reflected in his helmet is NASA astronaut James Newman. Behind is one of the solar arrays for the Russian Zarya module. Credit: NASA

There wasn’t a lot of elbow room when six people from the Endeavour shuttle floated into the baby International Space Station on Dec. 10, 1998, but the cramped quarters resonated with possibility in STS-88 commander Bob Cabana’s mind.

“It’s hard to believe 15 years ago we put those first modules together, and we have this facility today that’s the size of a football field,” said Cabana in an interview today (Nov. 20) with Universe Today.

Cabana, who is now the director of the Kennedy Space Center, oversaw a complex mission that included joining the Russian Zarya and U.S. Unity modules, three spacewalks to get the modules powered and ready for humans to enter, and the pressure of public relations activities surrounding the opening of the station itself.

“That was a very special day, when we went into Unity and Zarya for the first time. There was a lot of excitement and anticipation,” Cabana said. He and Russian Sergei Krikalev — who would go on to become the person who spent the most time in space, at 803 days — entered the tiny hatches side by side to emphasize the international participation.

As is typical of spaceflight, the astronauts spent most of their day at work, busily waking up the station and testing its systems. NASA astronauts Jerry Ross and James Newman put together a communications system. Other crew members tested the videoconference equipment — important for press conferences as well as talking to scientists on the ground. Equipment and supplies in Zarya had to be unstowed and organized.

There also was the first repair on station, when Krikalev and NASA astronaut Nancy Currie replaced a faulty unit in Zarya “which controlled the discharging of stored energy from one of the module’s six batteries,” NASA wrote in an update at the time.

Cabana wanted his crew to get eight hours of sleep, but the excitement of that first day kept everybody up until 2:30 in the morning despite the wakeup call coming at 7 a.m.

A space station is born. The Russian Zarya module (top) is connected to the U.S. Unity module using the Canadarm on Dec. 6, 1998. Shot is a still from an IMAX camera carried on board shuttle Endeavour. Credit: NASA

“We were talking about what the ISS means, what will be accomplished with this cornerstone,” Cabana recalled, and said he is pleased with what has come to pass in the next 15 years. “It had come true. Everything we thought that could be has come together. That was a very special night, thinking about the future and how important the International Space Station was.”

The heaviest construction finished in 2011, and larger crews of six were allowed on board rather than the beginning crews of just three. NASA is now trying to position the station as a venue for microgravity science to justify the expense of running it. The astronauts, however, must balance their time doing science with the normal chores and maintenance the station requires. (The recent Expedition 35/36 missions were extremely productive in terms of science return, NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy told Universe Today in a past interview.)

All buildings on Earth require upgrades from time to time to stay safe and up to date, and the ISS is no different. Cabana said analysis will be done to “extend the life on some of the modules, but we don’t see that as a large issue.” The reason? The crews do “an outstanding job” keeping the station humming along with routine maintenance, he said.

Today (Nov. 20) marks the 15th anniversary of Zarya’s launch into orbit. The station partners are currently committed until 2020, meaning negotiations are forthcoming to see what to do with the station in the years afterwards. It’s unclear what will happen next — the recession is still reverberating in the United States and overseas — but today, the agencies focused on the successes.

Each partner agency tweeted facts and science concerning the ISS under the hashtag #ISS15, and invited people using all forms of social media to share their thoughts on the station. What are some notable things about the station, and what is a good use of it in the future, in your opinion? Let us know in the comments.

NASA astronaut Bob Cabana (left) and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev just outside the hatch to the Zarya Russian module on Dec. 10, 1998. Credit: NASA

November 20, 2013December 23, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

NASA Infographic: 15 Years of the International Space Station

The first International Space Station component, the Russian Zarya module, was launched 15 years ago today, on November 20, 1998. Since then, a consortium of 15 different nations have constructed a world-class orbiting laboratory, with a continual human presence onboard since 2000. Construction was considered officially complete in 2011, but new modules are still planned.

NASA is celebrating the milestone with an infographic showcasing some of the amazing and surprising facts about humanity’s home away from Earth. See below for the infographic, as well as two videos with highlights from the past 15 years of the ISS:

To keep tabs on what is going on daily at the ISS, visit NASA’s ISS webpage. You can also find out how to see the station for yourself at spotthestation.nasa.gov or watch live station video at www.nasa.gov/iss-stream.

November 19, 2013December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

Teenaged Space Station Thriving After 15 Years Of Science, Extreme Construction And Tricky Repairs

Extreme conditions surround the International Space Station’s scientific work, to say the least. It takes a rocketship to get there. Construction required more than 1,000 hours of people using spacesuits. Astronauts must balance their scientific work with the need to repair stuff when it breaks (like an ammonia coolant leak this past spring.)

But amid these conditions, despite what could have been show-stoppers to construction such as the Columbia shuttle tragedy of 2003, and in the face of changing political priorities and funding from the many nations building the station, there the ISS orbits. Fully built, although more is being added every year. The first module (Zarya) launched into space 15 years ago tomorrow. Humans have been on board continuously since November 2000, an incredible 13 years.

The bulk of construction wrapped up in 2011, but the station is still growing and changing and producing science for the researchers sending experiments up there. Below are some of the milestones of construction in the past couple of decades. Did we miss something important? Let us know in the comments.

It's a baby space station! The Russian Zarya module (left) and U.S. Unity module after they were joined on Dec. 4, 1998. Photograph taken by the STS-88 crew aboard space shuttle Endeavour. Credit: NASA — It’s a baby space station! The Russian Zarya module (left) and U.S. Unity module after they were joined on Dec. 4, 1998. Photograph taken by the STS-88 crew aboard space shuttle Endeavour. Credit: NASA

The space station with newly installed U.S. solar arrays (top) in December 2000. Picture taken by the departing STS-97 crew aboard space shuttle Endeavour. Credit: NASA

The Expedition 1 crew, which docked with the space station on Nov. 2, 2000. From left, NASA's Bill Shepherd, and Roscosmos' Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev. Humans have lived continuously in orbit since that day, more than 13 years ago. Credit: NASA — The Expedition 1 crew, which docked with the space station on Nov. 2, 2000. From left, NASA’s Bill Shepherd, and Roscosmos’ Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev. Humans have lived continuously in orbit since that day, more than 13 years ago. Credit: NASA

STS-114 NASA astronaut Steve Robinson in 2005 aboard Canadarm2, a robotic arm designed specifically for International Space Station construction. Canadarm2 was installed during STS-100 in 2001. It took more than 1,000 hours of spacewalking assembly to put the station together. Credit: NASA

With NASA Expedition 2 astronaut Susan Helms controlling Canadarm2, the Quest airlock is brought over for installation on Unity Node 1 aboard the International Space Station. Today, Quest is the usual departure point for U.S. spacewalks. Credit: NASA

November 3, 2007 – Canadarm2 played a big role in helping astronauts fix a torn solar array. The arm’s reach was extended by the Orbiter Boom Sensor System, and here, allowing astronaut Scott Parazynski analyses the solar panel while anchored to the boom. Credit: NASA — From time to time, astronauts are called upon to perform tricky repairs to the International Space Station. This October 2007 spacewalk by NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski during shuttle mission STS-120 repaired tears to one of the station’s solar panels — while the panel was powered. Spacewalks have also addressed ammonia leaks, among other things. Credit: NASA

European Space Agency astronaut Hans Schlegel works on installing the ESA Columbus laboratory in 2008. The ten racks on board Columbus can be worked on by astronauts or controlled remotely from a center in Germany. NASA is trying to position the station as an orbiting laboratory that can perform experiments that are impossible on Earth, but astronauts must balance science work with maintenance tasks aboard the station. Credit: NASA

Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson reflects on the view from the ISS's Cupola. Credit: Doug Wheelock/NASA — Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson (Expedition 23/24) reflects on the view from the ISS’s Cupola in 2010. This panoramic window to Earth was a late addition to the station, in February 2010. Credit: Doug Wheelock/NASA

Space station construction is still ongoing. In 2015, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) will be attached to the station as a sort of inflatable room. The test will examine the viability of inflatable structures in space. Pictured in front are NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver and Robert T. Bigelow, president and founder of Bigelow Aerospace in 2013. NASA/Bill Ingalls

November 18, 2013December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell

UrtheCast: Cameras for Live Video Views of Planet Earth To Launch Nov. 25

A view of rivers in Montana, USA, from the ISS. Credit: ESA/Luca Parmitano.

A Canadian camera system aiming to provide near-realtime video views of Earth is readying for a launch from Kazakhstan.

If all goes well, the UrtheCast dual camera system will blast off in a Progress supply ship on Nov. 25, 2013.

This will be the world’s first ever high definition, live-streaming video platform of planet Earth from the International Space Station.

“Imagine you have a nearly live Google Earth, but it isn’t four year old data – you have data that is being refreshed all the time, with videos coming down over interesting areas where interesting events are going on, showing you what is changing, what is going on,” said George Tyc, the Chief Technology Officer at UrtheCast, in an interview with Universe Today earlier this year. “What we really hope to pull off is to change the paradigm, get the everyday person interacting and seeing the data coming down from space to see the Earth and how it is evolving over time in a way that isn’t available right now.”

Last week at the Canadian Space Society Summit, UrtheCast co-founder Wade Larson explained the camera setup will take place in phases, with Phase 1 of the project having two cameras facing the ground, with one having a fixed gaze and the other one featuring maneuverability to points of interest. These should be installed on the station sometime in December 2013, Larson said, with data coming in the first quarter of 2014.

The company’s aim is to make Earth video data more accessible to individuals and schoolchildren, who would log in on UrtheCast’s website, as well as the traditional customers of government and private companies. Additionally, a recent partnership agreement with the UN will see them offer real-time information on dynamic situations such as floods and mass movements of people during humanitarian disasters. They will also be integrating the data with live social media feeds as well as opening up their API for app developers.

The UK covered in snow, as seen on Dec. 8, 2010. Credit: NASA's Aqua satellite. — The UK covered in snow, as seen on Dec. 8, 2010. Credit: NASA’s Aqua satellite.

Current sponsors on the project from UrtheCast (pronunced “Earthcast”) include Roscosmos, MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates, the Discovery Channel, Energia, Unosat and RAL Space, Larson added.

The UrtheCast team is working in an exclusive relationship with the Russian Aerospace giant RSC Energia (NASA is not involved at all), and cosmonauts on board the ISS will install the cameras. The video data of the Earth will be down-linked to ground stations around the planet and then displayed in near real time on the UrtheCast web platform.

“We had to meet quite a strict set of requirements that the cameras are safe for cosmonauts and astronauts,” Tyc said, “as there can’t be any toxic substances because they will be inside the ISS before they are installed.”

Tyc added that it will take two spacewalks to do the full installation. The cameras are expected to last at least five years, and Tyc expects them to be up there even longer. “We’re looking at putting additional cameras up there for a second generation, and we expect to be up there for the life of the station, really,” he said.

Tyc said he thinks the social media aspect of UrtheCast will be a big part of the entire experience.

“For example, in a natural disaster or big event we’ll also incorporate videos from the ground of things going on, to experience an event in a far different way than you can now,” he said. “And it’s not being filtered through a media agency — it is what it is – and people can draw their own conclusions and add their own voice.”

Tyc said that if the concept takes off, they think this will be a shift in how people can interact with others around the world. “It could be a feeling of the Overview effect – people who go to space are have a completely changed perspective – we’re trying to bring a little bit of that to the ground,” he said.

The team said the name UrtheCast is a bit of a double entendre, as it is pronounced like “EarthCast” but also looks like “You Are the Cast” since it will be live views of planet Earth.

Find out more at the UrtheCast website.

Nancy Atkinson also contributed to this report.