The International Space Station is opening its doors to everyone through Google Maps Street View . Thomas Pesquet , an astronaut with the European Space Agency, spent six months on the International Space Station as a flight engineer. He returned to Earth in June 2017 and tells what it's like to live on the images for Street ISS View , while also analyzing the experience of capturing in zero gravity.
“During my 6 months on the International Space Station, it was hard to find the words or take a photo that accurately described the feeling of being in Space. In partnership with Google on my last mission, I captured images for Street View to show you all what the International Space Station is like from the inside and share what it’s like to look at Earth from deep space.
For 16 years, astronauts have been working and living on the International Space Station, which consists of 15 connected space capsules floating 250 miles above Earth. The International Space Station serves as a base for space exploration, for potential future missions to the moon, Mars and asteroids, and gives us a unique perspective on Earth itself. We can collect data on Earth's oceans, atmosphere and terrain. We can conduct experiments and studies that we couldn't do from Earth, such as examining how the human body reacts to microgravity, solving mysteries of the immune system, studying cyclones in order to warn populations and governments when a storm is approaching, or monitoring marine pollution —the growing amount of waste found in our oceans.
There were some novel elements to my mission. It was led by Peggy Whitson, who, at age 56, became the oldest woman to fly in space and the first woman in history to do so twice. The mission was the first to capture images from outside Earth for Street View, and for the first time, those images were accompanied by captions: helpful little notes that appear as you explore the International Space Station. They provide additional information or fun tidbits like where we exercise to stay fit, what kind of food we eat, and where we conduct science experiments.
Due to the unique constraints of living and working in space, it was not possible to collect imagery for Street View using Google 's standard methods . Instead, the Street View team worked with NASA at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville , Alabama , to design a method for capturing images in zero gravity using DSLR cameras and equipment already on board the International Space Station. The images were then captured in space and sent back to Earth, where they were stitched together to produce 360-degree photos of the International Space Station.
We solved a lot of problems before we captured the final images you see today on Street View. The International Space Station is littered with technical equipment on all surfaces, with lots of cables and a complex layout of chambers. It's a busy place, with six crew members performing research and maintenance activities 12 hours a day. There are a lot of obstacles up there, and we had limited time to capture the images, so we had to be sure that our approach would work. And then there's this thing called zero gravity.
Today, you can tour the International Space Station on Street View, a place few of us have ever been lucky enough to set foot in or soar through. None of this would have been possible without the work of the team on the ground, my colleagues (turned roommates) on the International Space Station, and the countries that worked together to send us into space. Looking down on Earth from above, I thought a little more about my own world, and I hope that the International Space Station on Street View will change your perspective on the world.”.
Click here to see behind the scenes of the process with Thomas and his team.
