WINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHTWINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHT

WINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHTWINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHT

Key Capabilities:

• 3D Earth Visualization Engine (GeoFusion Digital Earth)

• Earth Imagery Database (Landsat, Geosat, DMSP)

• Orbital tracking system / Real time target tracking

• Dynamic viewing system showing earth (100 m) from orbit

• Geo-referencing of images

• Calibrated for all lenses on board ISS

Windows on Earth (WoE) / Flight offers a 3-D, simulated view of the Earth from any window of the International Space Station, enabling astronauts to accurately preview, track, predict, and photograph pre-programmed targets of interest. The software is readily adaptable for various orbital parameters, future vehicles, even orbits around the Moon and Mars.

WINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHTWINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHT

• WoE / F evolved out of a partnership between the Association of Space Explorers and TERC. The original Windows on Earth was developed by TERC under a grant from the NSF and is delivered via the web and museum installations. ASE and TERC conceptualized an orbital variation of the original software for use on the ISS.

• WoE / Flight design and configuration was developed in collaboration with TERC and astronaut members of the ASE. Several design reviews were held and recommendations incorporated, where possible, into successive versions.

• WoE / Flight was flight certified and flown to the ISS on board Soyuz TMA-13 with space flight participant Richard Garriott. NASA crews observed and commented positively on the software.

• ISS state vectors and final target list were uploaded just prior to launch. Garriott took over 1500 photographs of the 800 targets loaded into WoE / F. Targets were submitted by ASE, TERC, Nature Conservancy, Challenger Learning Centers and the JSC Crew Earth Observations (CEO) office.

WINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHTWINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHT

Software Review and Flight Certification:

Flight certification was performed by IC Space Consulting, under contract to Energia. IC Space certified that:

• the software components perform their designed functions reliably, on a ground-based computer, fully-compatible with the Lenovo A31P on ISS (now flight demonstrated)

• the software components and source code design are consistent with the software design specification

• the software accurately calculates the current location and projected track, based on current orbital parameters, with sufficient accuracy to support Earth photography

• while performing these functions, the software causes no harm, overt or covert, to other ISS software or hardware

• the software has no known viruses or other types of malware

• any malfunctions of the software are limited in scope; are easily recovered from; and can cause no harm, overt or covert, to other ISS software or hardware

WINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHTWINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHT

Core Technologies:

• Adobe Flash

WinEarth ISS uses Flash version 9 for the software engine, as well as all non-3D user interface elements. For modularity, and for layout flexibility, the Flash portion of WinEarth ISS is split into seven separate applets, four of them having user interfaces and three being single pixels (essentially invisible). • GeoPlayer

GeoFusion, Inc's GeoPlayer ActiveX plugin is used for all three-dimensional display. There are two instances of the plugin; one displays the main window view, the other displays the near-term orbital path view.

• JavaScript

Since GeoPlayer does not support the LocalConnection facility, all communications between a GeoPlayer instance and the application is done via a dedicated Flash applet, mediated by JavaScript. The JavaScript tools for GeoPlayer communication are in C:\WinEarth\Application\Shared\gpUtilsMulti.js. JavaScript is also used for various other browser-dependent functions.

WINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHTWINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHT

State Vectors:

WoE uses published ISS orbital parameters to calculate the precise current location of ISS, and project the orbital track. The software uses the “Two-Line Element” (TLE) format, that includes all of the essential information about the current ISS orbit. The TLE data are publicly released by NASA, with at least daily updates. Here is a typical TLE:

1 25544U 98067A 08147.49480559 .00009303 00000-0 61307-4 0 54802 25544 51.6374 128.2213 0005458 260.2014 195.2450 15.76489201545108

For ground-based operation and testing, the software uses the Internet to access the updated two-line elements from an official source: http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/stations.txt. For use on ISS, Garriott used a file transfer to update the parameters.

The software ingests these values, and does its orbital calculations based on standard algorithms. The TLE includes an official release date and time, which the software displays as “Orbit data as of”, at the far right of the location band.

WINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHTWINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHT

OK, what are we talking about, anyway…?

WINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHTWINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHT

WINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHTWINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHT

WINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHTWINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHT

So, let’s see it…

WINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHTWINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHT

[demo]

WINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHTWINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHT

Just one more thing…

WINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHTWINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHT

WINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHTWINDOWS ON EARTH / FLIGHT

Project Partners

Association of Space Explorers TERC

1150 Gemini Ave 2067 Massachusetts Ave

Houston, TX 77058 Cambridge, MA 02140

281 280 8172 617 873 9604

www.space-explorers.org http://www.terc.edu

To view an online demo, visit:

http://winearth.terc.edu