Most of the human species will never be able to visit space; much less will experience how it feels to perform a spacewalk. Even billionaires who can afford to go to exit Earth’s gravity can only look at spacewalks from inside of the spacecraft.
However, Space Explorers: The ISS Experience show has something that will enable humans to experience how floating in space feels like. To make this a reality, Felix & Paul Studios, one of the series’ creators, customized a VR camera and fixed it to the Canadarm2 robot to snap 3D, 360-degree scenes from outside of the ISS.
Experience of a lifetime
Felix & Paul’s “Outer Space Camera” is a specially-designed version of the Z-Cam V1 Pro. It packs nine 4K cameras that are capable of capturing images at 8K resolution. The camera has been customized to survive harsh weather such as UV radiation and micrometeoroid impacts. The team fitted it to the Canadarm2 robotic arm that moves around the ISS’ exterior.
Jonathan Woods, the series’ executive producer for Time Studios said:
“Capturing the Earth in stereoscopic 3D, 360-degree format from space, outside the space station, has never been attempted until now. It’s beyond exciting and surreal to see this happening, knowing that the dream for this ambitious project started over five years ago in 2015.”
Episodes 3 and 4 will be released this fall and winter, in 360-degree mobile format on 5G-enabled devices via various mobile carriers across the globe. The episodes will also be available as fully immersive VR experiences on the Oculus Store for the Rift, the Quest, and Quest 2 headsets.
NASA’s recent spacewalk
Speaking of spacewalks, NASA recently called off a spacewalk due to a minor medical issue of one of the two astronauts set to perform it. NASA said that astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who reached the space station in April 2021, faced a “minor medical issue,” adding that it wasn’t “a medical emergency.”
The ISS has been the hub for spacewalks for two decades. The space agency also recently celebrated the occasion. The first-ever spacewalk on the ISS was performed on July 21, 2001.
