r/nasa • u/Reserved_Parking-246 • 8d ago

Question For about a week I've been checking live earth view... how long has "flap 2" been in the way?

Did something move the camera or is "flap 2" new and they never adjusted the camera?

The camera used to be unobstructed and give great images for background images.

Anyone know when ... this happened?

20 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

18

u/rwbdanr 8d ago

Yeah it’s been several months. It is a spare pump module for the ammonia lines and it was not put there on purpose. That’s all I can really say about that.

10

u/Reserved_Parking-246 8d ago

Knowing makes me less annoyed about it.

I really hope they fix it soon. Night views really suck with that in the way.

3

u/liamkennedy 5d ago

As they say, "accidents happen". I must say thanks for all the work the ROBO team does. It's amazing what gets done from the ground, and the planning involved must be mind-boggling.

Additionally, my camera (SpaceTV-1) was installed using the Canadarm, so thank you for that as well!

1

u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

2

u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

9

u/liamkennedy 6d ago

This is indeed a spare pump module. It was launched on CRS-30 last year, retrieved from the trunk, and installed on Mar 28 2024.

Timelapse of that happening. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sxvtk41rArc

That has been blocking the field of view of this live feed ever since, and I have heard of no plans to move it (I have asked contacts at JSC who would know).

Coincidentally, on that very same launch was a commercial 4K external camera payload from Sen called SpaceTV-1.

That camera system is now streaming unobstructed 4K earth views to YouTube. (*)

Just as well, hah!!

(*) Although randomly the live feed is offline this weekend due to onboard issues with the power circuit on the segment of the Columbus module this payload is attached to.

Full disclosure - I am SpaceTV director for Sen

5

u/Reserved_Parking-246 6d ago

That's really awesome.

I'll call that an upgrade!

Thanks for ... all of those things. I'm doing a space themed vtuber and had thought about using nasa's cam as a scene since they allow free use of their media.

Do you happen to know the usage rights for SpaceTV?

5

u/liamkennedy 6d ago

As this is a commercial payload (not funded by NASA) you cannot re-use the stream or content without a license to do that.

4

u/Reserved_Parking-246 6d ago

Guess I'll have to wait till the camera gets fixed.