WEBVTT

1
00:00:01.860 --> 00:00:10.700
These pictures depict the magnificent wonders of our planet, yet, they weren't taken anywhere on Earth.

2
00:00:10.700 --> 00:00:16.540
Instead, they were captured by astronauts aboard the International Space Station

3
00:00:16.540 --> 00:00:26.970
to chronicle the fragile beauty and ever-changing landscape of our collective home.

4
00:00:26.970 --> 00:00:33.690
To date, over 4 million photos taken by humans from space have been collected,

5
00:00:33.690 --> 00:00:37.060
from the earliest days of the Mercury and Gemini missions

6
00:00:37.060 --> 00:00:45.780
to the ones taken aboard the Space Station, and all are freely available to researchers, scientists and the public worldwide.

7
00:00:45.780 --> 00:00:54.460
These photographs are taken for many purposes, from artistic to the scientific, and have proven to have a wide range of uses.

8
00:00:54.460 --> 00:01:00.960
A powerful use of crew photography is to study changes to our planet over long periods of time.

9
00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:04.250
The Toshka Lakes and Lake Nasser in Egypt, for example,

10
00:01:04.250 --> 00:01:09.400
have been photographed on a regular basis from the station over the past 20 years.

11
00:01:09.400 --> 00:01:16.310
This is partially because the water levels in these lakes change dramatically on a month-to-month basis,

12
00:01:16.310 --> 00:01:19.380
constantly affecting agriculture in the region.

13
00:01:19.380 --> 00:01:24.200
Researchers, able to observe these bodies of water over a long period of time

14
00:01:24.200 --> 00:01:29.580
using crew photography, can ask: Is their volume more or less stable over time?

15
00:01:29.580 --> 00:01:32.820
Or, are they slowly losing their water?

16
00:01:32.820 --> 00:01:40.860
Andrea Wenzel is a geoscientist for the Earth Science and Remote Sensing unit, who manage requests for crew photography.

17
00:01:40.860 --> 00:01:45.930
She notes the flexibility that a crew member offers when taking a picture of Earth.

18
00:01:45.930 --> 00:01:53.110
"A satellite generally takes the same photos over the same locations in the same orientation over and over.

19
00:01:53.110 --> 00:01:56.210
Astronauts on the other hand can use different lenses

20
00:01:56.210 --> 00:02:01.560
to take photos with different fields of view, from close up to wide shots.

21
00:02:01.560 --> 00:02:06.520
The Cupola on the bottom of the Space Station allows for a panoramic view straight down,

22
00:02:06.520 --> 00:02:11.190
or the crew member can elect to photograph an image that includes the horizon.

23
00:02:11.190 --> 00:02:19.790
And, because the Space Station flies an asynchronous orbit around Earth, it can capture images at any time of day or night".

24
00:02:19.790 --> 00:02:23.750
Wenzel notes that the Viedma Glacier at the southern end of South America

25
00:02:23.750 --> 00:02:29.790
is a good example of a moving Earth feature being observed by crew photography over time.

26
00:02:29.790 --> 00:02:34.170
There's been a significant decrease in the glacier's length over the years

27
00:02:34.170 --> 00:02:42.560
and the photos allow researchers to observe the path the glacier is taking and correlate that to climate change data.

28
00:02:42.560 --> 00:02:50.600
The crew can also be asked to capture an event, like a hurricane, wildfire, flood or volcanic eruption.

29
00:02:50.600 --> 00:02:53.770
This image shows flooding in Columbia.

30
00:02:53.770 --> 00:03:01.130
Wenzel says, "It was one of a series of photos that was used by international first responders to update their flood maps.

31
00:03:01.130 --> 00:03:06.120
As a result, they launched an operation to rescue the inhabitants of local villages

32
00:03:06.120 --> 00:03:09.990
who were stuck in place due to rising water"

33
00:03:09.990 --> 00:03:15.060
Astronauts often say the most remarkable thing about seeing Earth from the Space Station

34
00:03:15.060 --> 00:03:21.180
is viewing our planet across climate zones and continents, without borders drawn on a map.

35
00:03:21.180 --> 00:03:27.680
Fortunately for those of us still on the ground, their photographic skills allow us to see what they see,

36
00:03:27.680 --> 00:03:41.910
now and over decades of time, benefiting all of us in multiple ways.