NASA Releases First 8K Footage From Space (And It’s Really Cool)

See you later, 4K. NASA and the European Space Agency delivered the first 8K ultra high definition (UHD) video of astronauts living, working, and conducting research from the International Space Station on Friday, to celebrate the 18th anniversary of humans living continuously aboard.

The footage was shot on the Helium 8K camera by RED, a digital cinema company. The camera is capable of shooting at resolutions ranging from conventional HDTV up to 8K, specifically 8192 x 4320 pixels. By comparison, the average HD consumer television displays up to 1920 x 1080 pixels of resolution, and digital cinemas typically project in resolutions of 2K to 4K.

The RED camera is the same brand used to record theatrical releases such as The Hobbit trilogy, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, and TV shows such as Stranger Things.

Engineers who previously sent high-definition (HD) cameras, 3D cameras, and a camera capable of recording 4K footage to the International Space Station, delivered the new 8K camera  to the station in April aboard the 14th SpaceX cargo resupply mission through a Space Act Agreement between NASA and RED.

The camera’s ability to record twice the pixels and at resolutions four times higher than the 4K camera brings science in orbit into the homes, laboratories and classrooms of everyone on Earth, NASA said in a statement.

“We’re excited to embrace new technology that improves our ability to engage our audiences in space station research,” said David Brady, assistant program scientist for the International Space Station Program Science Office at Johnson. “Each improvement in imagery fidelity brings that person on Earth closer to the in-space experience, allowing them to see what human spaceflight is doing to improve their life, as well as enable humanity to explore the universe.”

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