Nasa Video Library

The view of life in space is getting a major boost with the introduction of 4K Ultra High-Definition (UHD) video, providing an unprecedented look at what it's like to live and work aboard the International Space Station. This important new capability will allow researchers to acquire high resolution - high frame rate video to provide new insight into the vast array of experiments taking place every day. It will also bestow the most breathtaking views of planet Earth and space station activities ever acquired for consumption by those still dreaming of making the trip to outer space.

On June 21, 2020, NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy captures a solar annual eclipse in 4K from the International Space Station as it passes approximately 260 miles over China. The video’s speed has not been altered.

The International Space Station’s High Definition Earth Viewing (HDEV) experiment is an external camera platform located on the Columbus module of the space station. In addition to providing beautiful views of Earth, one of the goals of HDEV is to monitor the longevity and quality of its image sensors in the space environment. HDEV operations began April 30, 2014 and only a single bad pixel has been identified.

ISS 4K Crew Earth Observations

The 29th SpaceX commercial resupply services (CRS) mission for NASA carries scientific experiments and technology demonstrations, including studies of enhanced optical communications and measurement of atmospheric waves. The uncrewed SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than Nov. 5.

As the 2017 solar eclipse approaches and enters totality, NASA Armstrong staff and NASA senior management share their excitement and first-hand experience from aboard NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Gulfstream III aircraft. The G-III aircraft flew at 35,000 feet above the coast of Oregon during the 2017 total solar eclipse, capturing some of the very first views of the 2017 total solar eclipse as it made its way across the United States.

The Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk, or GOLD, instrument launches aboard a commercial communications satellite in January 2018 to inspect the dynamic intermingling of space and Earth’s uppermost atmosphere. Together, GOLD and another NASA mission, Ionospheric Connection Explorer spacecraft, or ICON, will provide the most comprehensive of Earth’s upper atmosphere we’ve ever had. Above the ozone layer, the ionosphere is a part of Earth’s atmosphere where particles have been cooked into a sea of electrically-charged electrons and ions by the Sun’s radiation. The ionosphere is co-mingled with the very highest — and quite thin — layers of Earth’s neutral upper atmosphere, making this region an area that is constantly in flux undergoing the push-and-pull between Earth’s conditions and those in space. Increasingly, these layers of near-Earth space are part of the human domain, as it’s home not only to astronauts, but to radio signals used to guide airplanes and ships, and satellites that provide our communications and GPS systems. Understanding the fundamental processes that govern our upper atmosphere and ionosphere is crucial to improve situational awareness that helps protect astronauts, spacecraft and humans on the ground. GOLD, in geostationary orbit over the Western Hemisphere, will build up a full-disk view of the ionosphere and upper atmosphere every half hour, providing detailed large-scale measurements of related processes — a cadence which makes it the first mission to be able to monitor the true weather of the upper atmosphere. GOLD is also able to focus in on a tighter region and scan more quickly, to complement additional research plans as needed.

NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON launches in fall 2018. It orbits above the upper atmosphere, through the bottom edge of near-Earth space. From this vantage point, ICON observes both the upper atmosphere and a layer of charged particles called the ionosphere, which extends from about 50 to 360 miles above the surface of Earth. Processes in the ionosphere also create bright swaths of color in the sky, known as airglow. ICON will observe how interactions between Earth's weather and the ionosphere create such shimmering airglow as well as other changes in the space environment.

Lucy Live Launch Coverage from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Lucy, NASA’s first mission to explore the Trojan Asteroids, is set to launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Oct. 16. The launch is managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy Space Center.

From aboard NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center G-III aircraft, this wide angle video of the moon's umbra was captured as they flew over the coast of Oregon, near Lincoln City at 35,00 feet during the eclipse.

Time Lapse footage of 2017 partial Solar Eclipse seen from Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas. Solar filter is used to photograph the sun in various phases.

It’s official — our holiday lights are so bright we can see them from space. Thanks to the VIIRS instrument on the Suomi NPP satellite, a joint mission between NASA and NOAA, scientists are presenting a new way of studying satellite data that can illustrate patterns in holiday lights, both during Christmas and the Holy Month of Ramadan. These new tools can provide new insights into how energy consumption behaviors vary across different cultural settings.

NASA TV provided coverage of Super Blue Moon Lunar Eclipse on Jan. 31. The full moon was the third in a series of “supermoons,” when the Moon is closer to Earth in its orbit -- known as perigee -- and about 14 percent brighter than usual. It was also the second full moon of the month, commonly known as a “blue moon.” As the super blue moon passed through Earth’s shadow, viewers in some locations experienced a total lunar eclipse. While in Earth’s shadow, the moon also took on a reddish tint – which is sometimes referred to as a “blood moon.”

This time lapse video taken during ISS Expedition 42 is assembled from JSC still photo collection (still photos iss042e212874 - iss042e213080). Shows Earth views. Solar Array Wing (SAW) in foreground.

The astronauts and cosmonauts on the International Space Station take pictures of Earth out their windows nearly every day, and over a year that adds up to thousands of photos. The people at the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston had the enviable job of going through this year’s crop to pick their top 17 photos of Earth for 2017—here’s what they chose!

In preparation for Earth Day, view our beautiful planet from above, with commentary from NASA astronauts.

Earth views from the International Space Station. City lights, auroras, sunsets, oceans, moon on the horizon an other beauty shots of our planet from space.