NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA has a program that you can use! It lets you enjoy one of the benefits of being an astronaut, but you don't have to leave the Earth.

Image to right: Islands and a coastline can be seen in this image taken by EarthKAM. Credit: NASA

The ISS EarthKAM program, which uses a camera on the International Space Station, just launched its eighth year of operations. The first mission of the 2004-2005 school year began in October and another mission will begin in February 2005. Right now, ISS EarthKAM is registering schools for these missions. This program is free. Ask your teachers to go online to sign your class up!

There are many exciting things about going into space. But, the one thing astronauts mention most often as the favorite part of going into space is looking down at the Earth. The view of our planet from space is incredible, they say. There's nothing on Earth like looking at the Earth from space. When astronauts give talks after their missions, they often show off pictures they took while in space. And, those pictures are definitely special. National boundaries disappear. Everyday landscapes take on a new beauty. Familiar landmarks are lost from the new perspective. Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on Earth, becomes just another peak, lost among others. These pictures show us our world in ways we've never seen it before. Wouldn't it be great to get the chance to take those pictures yourself? What would you want to photograph from the International Space Station?

Image to left: The EarthKAM camera is mounted on the outside of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

Well, a NASA program gives you the chance to do just that. The ISS EarthKAM program lets students, teachers, and the public learn about Earth from the unique perspective of space. EarthKAM stands for Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle school students. The program uses a digital camera on the ISS. This camera points towards Earth from the Destiny laboratory. Classrooms taking part in the ISS EarthKAM program pick sites on Earth they would like to see from space. They then target, request, and get the images. To take accurate photos, students have to do their homework. They study atlases, weather information, and the ISS's orbital path to make sure they get the right photos. After the mission, they study their images. They then prepare presentations explaining what they have found.

The EarthKAM program helps students and teachers in other ways, too. All of the photos taken by students can be found on the Internet. This adds up to over 16,000 photos. You can see them by visiting the following Web site: http://datasystem.earthkam.ucsd.edu. Teachers can use these pictures to help students learn about geography and Earth resources. And, other people can see them, too. Anyone who is interested can look through the archive of pictures from EarthKAM.

Image to right: A snowy mountain range can be seen in this image taken by EarthKAM. Credit: NASA

So, who came up with the ideas for EarthKAM? It was Sally Ride. She's the first female NASA astronaut in space. When EarthKAM first started, it was called KidSat. The KidSat camera flew on three Shuttle missions in 1996 and 1997. Like EarthKAM, students asked for photos of certain places. A total of 1,495 images were taken on those three flights. These trials were a huge success. As a result, the program continued under the name EarthKAM. The first EarthKAM flight was on a Space Shuttle mission in January 1998. A total of 490 photos were taken. EarthKAM flew again in February 2000. For this mission, students in 83 schools asked for photos. A total of 2,715 photos were taken on this mission.

Image above: The ISS EarthKAM program lets students gain a new view of our home planet. Credit: NASA

In 2001, the name of the program was changed to "ISS EarthKAM." This marks the change from the Shuttle to the Space Station. ISS EarthKAM was launched on the STS-98 Shuttle mission in February 2001 as part of the Station module Destiny. In fact, ISS EarthKAM was the first payload in operation in NASA's science laboratory module. It was set up on May 6, 2001. It takes pictures through Destiny's window. This is where astronauts do most of their Earth gazing. Now that the EarthKAM is on ISS, students don't have to wait for a Shuttle flight to be a part of the program. Instead, new EarthKAM missions begin about every 3 months.

ISS EarthKAM Home Page
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