{"id":18991,"date":"2017-04-19T00:06:59","date_gmt":"2017-04-18T16:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/liftoff-sends-cygnus-cargo-ship-to-space-station-but-360-degree-video-falls-short\/"},"modified":"2017-04-19T00:06:59","modified_gmt":"2017-04-18T16:06:59","slug":"liftoff-sends-cygnus-cargo-ship-to-space-station-but-360-degree-video-falls-short","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/liftoff-sends-cygnus-cargo-ship-to-space-station-but-360-degree-video-falls-short\/","title":{"rendered":"Liftoff sends Cygnus cargo ship to space station, but 360-degree video falls short"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_325837\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-325837\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-325837\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/170418-liftoff-3-630x354.jpg\" alt=\"Atlas 5 liftoff\" width=\"630\" height=\"354\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/170418-liftoff-3-630x354.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/170418-liftoff-3-768x431.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/170418-liftoff-3-1260x707.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/170418-liftoff-3.jpg 1277w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-325837\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">United Launch Alliance\u2019s Atlas 5 rocket flashes to life on its Cape Canaveral launch pad, sending Orbital ATK\u2019s Cygnus cargo capsule on the first leg of its journey to the International Space Station. (NASA TV)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Today\u2019s launch of a robotic Cygnus cargo craft to the International Space Station was totally successful. But the first-ever live 360-degree video stream of a rocket launch? Not so much.<\/p>\n<p>The good news is that more than 7,600 pounds&nbsp;of supplies and experiments are now on their way to the station aboard Orbital ATK\u2019s cylindrical transport ship, which is named the S.S. John Glenn in honor of the late space pioneer and senator.<\/p>\n<p>Among the payloads are more than three dozen nanosatellites&nbsp;and a new habitat for growing plants in the station\u2019s weightless conditions, plus experiments to facilitate growing cell cultures and test anti-cancer drugs that&nbsp;activate the body\u2019s own immune system. There\u2019s also the latest in a series of experiments to study how things burn up in space.<\/p>\n<p>The Cygnus rose into orbit from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida right on time, at 11:11 a.m. ET (8:11 a.m. PT), atop United Launch Alliance\u2019s Atlas 5 rocket. NASA\u2019s video feed showed beachgoers watching as the launch vehicle ascended into sunny skies.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Orbital ATK CRS-7 Lifts off\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tGxVZSjNPls?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Now for the bad news: The most hyped angle of the event was the first-ever 360-degree live stream of a rocket launch, provided via NASA\u2019s YouTube channel. Four fisheye-lens cameras were placed about 300 feet from the rocket.<\/p>\n<p>The stream winked on about 10 minutes before launch. Viewers could get an all-around view from the vantage point near the launch pad, with a time lag due to the computer processing required to stitch together the 360. But the time-delayed signal stopped&nbsp;at about the T-minus-4-minute mark, and didn\u2019t come back until after the rocket had departed.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, the launch video looked like a rocket disappearing act: Now you see it, now you don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s some consolation, however. The archived version of the YouTube video does manage to document the moment of launch, in a few herky-jerky frames:<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"World's First Live 360 Rocket Launch: Orbital ATK CRS-7\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WbV_zwSFNhA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>And you have to keep in mind that the mission isn\u2019t primarily about the 360-degree launch video, which United Launch Alliance has provided before on a post-launch basis. The important thing is to get the cargo safe and sound to the International Space Station.<\/p>\n<p>Another launch to the station is due on Thursday, when two new crew members will head into orbit aboard a Russian Soyuz craft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz is scheduled to&nbsp;take the express route to the station, arriving just a little more than six hours after launch.<\/p>\n<p>The Cygnus shipment, meanwhile, is taking the scenic route.&nbsp;It\u2019s due to make its rendezvous on Saturday. The crew will use the station\u2019s robotic arm to grapple the capsule and hook it up to the Unity module for unloading.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>United Launch Alliance\u2019s Atlas 5 rocket flashes to life on its Cape Canaveral launch pad, sending Orbital ATK\u2019s Cygnus cargo capsule on the first leg of its journey to the International Space Station. (NASA TV) Today\u2019s launch of a robotic Cygnus cargo craft to the International Space Station was totally successful. But the first-ever live [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5267,724,639,717,190,2899,750],"class_list":["post-18991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-360-degree-video","tag-atlas-5","tag-cygnus","tag-international-space-station","tag-nasa","tag-orbital-atk","tag-united-launch-alliance"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18991"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18991\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}