NASA astronauts at the International Space Station are examining a 4K camera that delivers ultra-high resolution footage from inside and outside the facility. With this innovative new technology researchers will now be able to collate more information than ever before.
To give us a glimpse of what the experience is like, astronaut Scott Kelly uploaded a mesmerizing new video of him, creating magic with a floating ball of water in microgravity. To be more specific, he’s adding stimuli to a globule of water and filming its reactions in the presence of a zero-G environment. Unlike previous NASA releases, Kelly has switched up the aqueous globule experiment by adding blue and yellow food dye to change the color of water to algae green. He then adds effervescent tablets to produce carbon dioxide fizzing up in sphere.
This isn’t the first time a RED Epic Dragon 4K camera has been used to capture awe-inspiring footage. Director Peter Jackson used it to shoot some of the most mesmerizing scenes for his blockbuster hit ‘The Hobbit’.
“This is a huge leap in camera technology for spaceflight,” said program manager for NASA’s Imagery Experts Program Rodney Grubbs. “These cameras have large sensors capable of very high-resolution imaging at high frame rates. It is like having a high speed 35MM motion picture film camera, but it is compact, can use lenses we already have up there, and it is digital. No film to return to Earth.”
Watch Kelly perform his experiment in the video above. Make sure to kick it up to 2160p for the full 4K experience!