A new spacecraft selfie displays the machine in glorious 4K resolution above Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
NanoAvionics, a satellite company established in the United States and the United Kingdom, broadcasted a high-definition video from space on Wednesday, June 28th, exhibiting their MP42 microsatellite drifting 342 miles (550 km) above the reef and the Coral Sea, which is present at the northeast coast of Australia.
“The “immersive” view of Earth, captured with the assistance of a selfie stick, is the first such high-definition view of a full satellite backdropped by our planet, “company officials announced in a release that same day.
Starring the reef as the background was not coincidental, however.”We wanted to highlight the vulnerability of our planet and the importance of Earth observation by satellites, especially for monitoring environment and climate changes,” Vytenis Buzas said in the company statement. He is the co-founder and CEO of NanoAvionics,
While clicking the selfie, officials wrote, “the satellite’s camera tested and verified satellite operations for a payload controller that aims to process some data in space before sending it down to Earth.” A process like this conserves valuable time when analyzing fast-changing areas on the planet.
“The company anticipates more future usages of real satellite footage, live and recorded, such as deployment confirmation, fault detection, micro-meteorite impacts and educational purposes,” NanoAvionics officials declared.
