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Overview | Description | Applications | Operations | Results | Publications | Images
Experiment/Payload OverviewCrew Earth Observations - International Polar Year (CEO-IPY) supports an international collaboration of scientists studying the Earth?s Polar Regions from 2007 to 2009. Space station crew members photograph polar phenomena including icebergs, auroras and mesospheric clouds in response to daily correspondence from the scientists on the ground.
Principal InvestigatorJohnson Space Center, Houston, TX
Sponsoring AgencyNational Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Expeditions Assigned|14|15|16|17|18|
Previous ISS MissionsCrew Earth Observations have been ongoing since 1961and more than 250,000 images have been taken during the first six years of ISS operations.
International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2009 will be the fourth time in the past 125 years that scientists world wide will combine efforts in observation and exploration for the Earth's Polar Regions. This IPY will include observations made from the International Space Station (ISS) through the Crew Earth Observation (CEO) program.
ISS provides a human observational platform to observe atmospheric phenomena and repeated observations over the IPY. One area of research in which ISS will be participating in is the observation of Polar Mesospheric Clouds (PMC) and the Aurora phenomenon. PMC (also known as noctilucent clouds) are thin clouds that are found in the mesosphere. They are the highest known clouds with altitudes around 53 miles (85 km) and are visible only at night when illuminated by sunlight below the horizon.
The crewmember will use digital still photography and videos to capture targets that will be part of the CEO program. The targets will be selected on their relevance to the IPY studies. Additional imaging from satellites and ground observation stations will be compared to the data collected by ISS.
Observations that are made from Earth's orbit create the model for planetary exploration observations on future long-duration missions.
Earth ApplicationsData collected by CEO-IPY will be used by an international collaboration of scientists to determine how the Polar Regions have changed over the past 125 years and might help to explain atmospheric phenomena such as Polar Mesospheric Clouds. The blueprint that the data creates will be used to determine the changes in the Polar Regions in the future. The data gathered will also be used as an educational tool for teachers and students world wide.
Crewmembers will receive targets through the Crew Observations program that were coordinated by the IPY researchers. Digital photography and video will be taken by the ISS crews. Images will be downlinked to CEO personnel who will catalog and make the images available to the IPY researchers.
Operational ProtocolsThe IPY will begin in March 2007. The crewmembers will receive uplinked coordinates for the targets of interest from the CEO program. When the ISS passes over a specific target, the crewmembers will use digital photography and video to capture the target. These images and video will be downlinked to Johnson Space Center for cataloging and distribution.
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