Now Travel Through Space with Google Maps Street View
Thomas Pesquet, Astronaut at the European Space Agency (ESA), brings 360 degree imagery of the International Space Station (ISS) on Google Maps
by Shrutee K/DNS
India, 21st July 2017: People can now explore the International Space Station (ISS) on Google Maps through Street View. Thomas Pesquet, Astronaut at the European Space Agency (ESA), spent six months at the International Space Station (ISS) and captured the Street View imagery in zero gravity to help people discover and explore the experience of being in a spaceship.
The first-of-its-kind initiative by Google and ESA, showcases images of the interiors of the ISS and allows users to experience what it’s like to look down on Earth from outer space. The Street View imagery in Google Maps is supported with handy little dots which on clicking launches a note that explains additional information or fun facts.
Thomas Pesquet, Astronaut at the European Space Agency (ESA) said, “I am very enthusiastic about bringing street view aboard ISS. It will be a fantastic opportunity for everyone to experience the incredible feeling of being in space. The six months that we spent on the ISS, it was difficult to find the words or take a picture that accurately describes the feeling of being in space. Working with Google on the mission has made me think about my own world a little differently, and I hope that the ISS on Google Maps Street View changes viewer’s perspective of the world too.”
Peggy Whitson and friends dining at the galley table - big enough for six astronauts.
The Street View team worked with NASA at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas and Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama to design a gravity-free method of collecting the imagery using DSLR cameras and equipment already on the ISS. The still photos collected from the ISS were sent down to Earth where they were stitched together to create panoramic 360 degree imagery of the ISS.
Joint Airlock (Quest) - This area contains space suits also known as Extravehicular Mobility Units. They provide crew members with life support that enables extravehicular activity.
For over 16 years, astronauts have been working and living on the ISS, a structure which is made up of 15 connected modules, that floats 250 miles above the Earth. The ISS acts as a base for space explorations—possible future missions to the Moon, Mars and asteroids. ISS also acts as a reservoir that collects data on the Earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and land surface. It can be used to conduct experiments and studies that would not be able to do from Earth, like monitoring how the human body reacts to microgravity, studying cyclones in order to alert the population and Governments about the storm or monitoring marine litter.
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