14 DAY TRIAL // NASA has recently used the external camera on the International Space Station (ISS) to broadcast the latest spacewalk to the masses. American mission commander Michael Fincke and Russian expert Yury Lonchakov went outside their orbital habitat in order to install some scientific experiments and to prepare the station for the arrival of the Discovery space shuttle. Following the success that the ad-hoc webcam had with the viewing public, NASA officials told astronauts in space to turn it on Earth every once in a while, so that people could enjoy seeing what only the luckiest of us got to see daily.
Currently, the crew members aboard the ISS each spend about six months in space, although some astronauts have remained on the orbital facility for a bit longer. Everyday, when they get a break from their exhausting and extremely meticulous and precise work, they are treated to an image that makes it all worthwhile – our planet. They can see sunrises and sunsets in a way that no one of us commoners can say that we have. Now, the American space agency aims at bringing that joy to others as well.
There are, of course, some who are not happy with this, but not because the camera is not turned on at all times. They say that there is nothing of interest to behold in orbit, and that those tuning in are only treated to worthless images of the Earth and the atmosphere below the ISS. Upon viewing the recent broadcast, some individuals have felt somewhat disappointed, as their opinions of outer space, which take into account phasers and laser guns, have been a bit shaken.
The truth is that maintaining such an advanced research facility in Earth's orbit is a very complex and difficult job, which requires a lot of expertise and the contributions of some of the greatest minds in the world today. Those seeking the sensational can tune in on other broadcasts. For those space fans out there, do not miss the opportunity to take a closer look at how our planet really looks like, whenever you catch the camera transmitting live.