Explore the International Space Station Using Google Street View – Smithsonian

SmartNews Keeping you current Looking out at Earth from the Cupola Observation Module of the International Space Station on Google Street View (Google / YouTube)

smithsonian.com July 24, 2017

Google Street View has taken armchair explorers to some of Earth's most exotic locations, fromthe ancient ruins ofAngkorandMachuPicchuto the natural wonders of theGalapagos Islandsand theGrand Canyon.But its newest location is (literally) out of this world: the International Space Station. AsThuyOngreports forThe Verge,you can now explore the ISS from your own computer screen without suffering the challengesof spaceflight.

"In the six months that I spent on the International Space Station, it was difficult to find the words or take a picture that accurately describes the feeling of being in space," French astronaut Thomas Pesquet writes in a blog postannouncing the new Street View location. "Working with Google on my latest mission, I captured Street View imagery to show what the ISS looks like from the inside, and share what its like to look down on Earth from outer space."

According to Pesquet, the team couldn't usethe bulky backpacks or car-mounted devices usually used to record Google Street View locations. Not only is it difficultto send new equipment to the station,it's a pretty cramped environment. And then there's the issue of microgravity.

"All of our Street View procedures are predicated on the existence of gravity," Stafford Marquardt jokes in a video about the new Street View. Tripods would have to be secured wherever they were positioned. And photos taken by hand run into the issue that the photographer is constantly floating. So the team had to get creative.

The basic idea is that the astronaut would take images of the space station using a DSLR camera already on theISS. Then the images would be stitched back together on Earth. The problem is thateach image must be taken at a similar angle before being stitched, otherwise there would be seams or distortion in the final picture where the images didn't quite line up.

After testing out various methods on Earth, they decided thatPesquetwould stretch two bungee cords in a cross section of the station. Then he would take images, rotating the camera around the center point where the bungee cords cross.

This isn't the first time non-traditional equipment has been used to add to the considerable library of Google Street View. An islander on Denmark'sFaroeIslands used 360-degree camerasstrapped to sheepto map the rocky archipelago, while divers in Australia recorded the Great Barrier Reefwith an underwater camera submarine.

Pesquethopes that being able to explore this collaborative project orbiting thousands of miles above our planet and all of its borders will help people get perspective on the Earth.

"None of this would have been possible without the work of the team on the ground, my colleagues (turned roommates) on theISS, and the countries that came together to send us up to space,"Pesquetwrote in his blog post. "Looking at Earth from above made me think about my own world a little differently, and I hope that theISSon Street View changes your view of the world too."

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Explore the International Space Station Using Google Street View - Smithsonian