NASA HDTV on PBS: Space Station and Beyond

Image: Expedition 14 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria on the International Space Station in the world’s first HDTV broadcast from space. Image credit: Discovery Channel.

Images from the world’s first HDTV broadcast from space will again flash across TV screens around the world, as the Discovery Channel replays “Space Station Live: HD,” beginning at 9 p.m. on Jan. 3. The program features additional footage that highlights accomplishments attained since the orginal progam aired on Nov. 15, 2006. On that day, NASA made history with the first live HDTV broadcasts from space, in cooperation with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Discovery HD Theater and Japanese broadcast network NHK.

The broadcasts featured Expedition 14 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria on the International Space Station, with Flight Engineer Thomas Reiter serving as camera operator aboard the 220-mile-high laboratory.

“HDTV provides up to six times the resolution of regular analog video,” said Rodney Grubbs, NASA principal investigator. “On previous missions, we’ve flown HDTV cameras but had to wait until after the mission to retrieve the tapes, watch the video and share it with the science and engineering community, the media and the public. For the first time ever, this test lets us stream live HDTV from space so the public can experience what its like to be there.”

Known as the Space Video Gateway, the system transmits high bandwidth digital television signals to the ground that are not only spectacular, but also valuable to scientists, engineers and managers.

NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, along with both NHK and Discovery, cooperated in this effort though a Space Act Agreement originally signed in 2002.

For more information on show times, visit Discovery Channel HD Theater.