Astronaut on International Space Station (ISS) to Livestream the Transit of Venus from Space [video]

Posted by clnews _Featured_, Earth, Space, Technology Tuesday, June 5th, 2012

High above Earth on the International Space Station (ISS), astronaut Don Pettit is about to become the first human to witness and photograph a transit of Venus from space.  His images and commentary will be streamed live to Earth during the crossing on June 5, 2012.

“I’ve been planning this for a while,” says Pettit, who serves as Flight Engineer onboard the International Space Station. “I knew the Transit of Venus would occur during my rotation, so I brought a solar filter with me when my expedition left for the ISS in December 2011.”

Because transits of Venus come in pairs that occur once every 100 years or so, humans have rarely had the chance to photograph the apparition from Earth, much less from Earth orbit.

Pettit will be pointing his camera through the side windows of the space station’s cupola, an ESA-built observatory module that provides a wide-angle view of Earth and the cosmos.  Its seven windows are used by the crew to operate the station’s robotic arm, coordinate space dockings, and take science-grade photos of the Earth and sky. It’s also a favorite “hangout” for off-duty astronauts who find the view exhilarating.

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