Video Kidibot

Tag: #bluedot

  • Blue Dot mission summary

    Blue Dot mission summary

    ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst spent 166 days in space with NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman and Roscosmos commander Max Suraev in 2014.

    This ten-minute video shows highlights of his Blue Dot mission, from docking spacecraft to science and spacewalks Alexander worked to improve the International Space Station and life on Earth.

    From launch to landing, look at the experiments and beautiful images Alexander shared with us.

    For more about the Blue Dot mission go to:
    http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Blue_dot

    Connect with Alexander at http://alexandergerst.esa.int

  • Day and night

    Day and night

    It takes 90 minutes for an astronaut on the International Space Station to circle Earth completely, passing from daytime to nighttime and back again. This video taken by ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst shows the view from space in under one minute. Each orbit the Station moves around 2200 km to the West in relation to 90 minutes before.

    Astronauts often use normal consumer digital cameras to take pictures of Earth through Europe’s observatory module Cupola in their spare time. Setting the camera to take an image every few seconds and then playing the images back quickly create this timelapse effect.

    Alexander worked as a geophysicist and volcanologist before he was chosen as an ESA astronaut in 2009. His Blue Dot mission includes an extensive scientific programme of experiments in physical science, biology, and human physiology as well as radiation research and technology demonstrations. All experiments chosen make use of the out-of-this-world laboratory to improve life on Earth or prepare for further human exploration of our Solar System.

    Read more about his mission at http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Blue_dot

    Follow Alexander here: http://alexandergerst.esa.int/

  • Earth images from Alexander Gerst in 4K

    Earth images from Alexander Gerst in 4K

    This timelapse video was made from images taken by ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst orbiting Earth on the International Space Station.

    The video is offered in Ultra High Definition, the highest available to consumers. Be sure to change the settings in YouTube if your computer or television can handle it for the full effect.

    The montage is made from a long sequence of still photographs taken at a resolution of 4256 x 2832 pixels at a rate of one every second. The high resolution allowed the ESA production team to create a 3840 x 2160 pixel movie, also known as Ultra HD or 4K.

    Playing these sequences at 25 frames per second, the film runs 25 times faster than it looks for the astronauts in space.

    The artistic effects of the light trails from stars and cities at night are created by superimposing the individual images and fading them out slowly.

    Alexander Gerst is a member of the International Space Station Expedition 40 crew. He is spending five and a half months living and working on the ISS for his Blue Dot mission.

  • Alexander Gerst talks about Rosetta

    Alexander Gerst talks about Rosetta

    ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst talks with US media about the Rosetta mission, amongst other topics. Alexander is onboard the International Space Station at a member of the Expedition 40 crew and is living and working on the ISS for five and a months for the Bluedot mission. On 6 August, ESA’s comet chaser Rosetta arrived at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko after a 10-year journey.

  • ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst greets German planetariums

    ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst greets German planetariums

    On 25 July, several German planetariums connected with ESA’s Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, for a Google Hangout session.

    Usually, visitors to a planetarium are explore the starry night sky. But on the evening of 25 July eight German planetariums organised an event to talk about Alexander Gerst’s Blue Dot mission on the International Space Station, the European Astronaut Centre and about human spaceflight in general. A highlight of the evening was this message from Alexander Gerst in space.

  • Training for Blue Dot

    Training for Blue Dot

    ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst recounts his training for his Blue Dot mission to the International Space Station in May 2014. Alexander spent over four years learning science, survival techniques, new languages, robotic operations and Space Station systems to prepare for his mission.

    Alexander discusses basic training, overseeing docking of ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicle space freighter, spacewalk training in swimming pools, the merits of US and Russian spacesuits and the scientific experiments he will conduct.

    Alexander will spend six months on the Space Station performing experiments and maintaining the weightless laboratory. He is part of Expedition 40/41 to be launched May 2014 on a Soyuz spacecraft with cosmonaut commander Maxim Surayev and NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman.