NASA adopts UHD for TV coverage
December 14, 2015
By Chris Forrester
American space agency NASA says it will cover its future rocket launches in Ultra-HD.
Currently NASA is already ‘broadcasting’ an Ultra-HD channel to US viewers who can access the Americom C-band AMC-18c satellite (located at 105 degrees West) which beams hundreds of channels to US cable head-ends. Content available for viewing includes 4K footage shot in and around the International Space Station, and captured on six special UHD cameras.
NASA also regularly covers the departures and return to Earth of its astronauts and the launches of its cargo missions to the Space Station. This live and ‘near-live’ footage is, says NASA, “crystal clear” and represents the most “beautiful imagery from the Space Station”.
Additionally, NASA says it plans a 24-hour web-based channel which will match the broadcast channel. The transmissions will be compressed in HEVC format at 13 Mb/s.