National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced its plan of launching a new 4K television channel that will show UHD footage starting on Nov.1.
The United States space agency is partnering with Harmonic, a video delivery infrastructure company, to be the outlet for its UHD content. The said channel will provide the latest high-resolution images and video from the International Space Station (ISS) and other NASA missions. Along with that, NASA plans to show the remastered popular and historical space missions.
Viewers can expect to watch different space footage; from eating lettuce aboard the ISS, to multi-camera, slow motion footage of shuttle launches, and even Neil Armstrong's first steps on the Moon.
NASA and Harmonic will deliver 4K (2160p at 60 frames per second) video, making it the first ever non-commercial consumer ultra-high definition channel in the U.S. Harmonic is also in talks with pay TV operators to televise the said channel through cable, satellite and optical networks. It will also be available via online to people who have internet connection of 13 Mbps or higher to deliver detailed visuals, according to BGR.
Robert Jacobs, deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Office of Communications at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, said that they have been collecting a lot of 4K footage from within the ISS. Currently, HD iteration of NASA TV is not widely available, such Comcast and Time Warner do not have them, The Verge reported.
NASA already started posting UHD footage of their 4K footage to the NASA YouTube channel in June, and the space agency still wants to expand the reach of their footage and make them publicly viewable in more than one media platform.