Space operations allow no tolerance for error, making comprehensive video monitoring fundamental. Dozens of cameras record astronaut movement, spacecraft manoeuvres and experiments in the Columbus laboratory. The resulting volume of data must be managed for later scientific analysis.
Teracue of Odelzhausen addresses this requirement with a video-management system from its iCue product family. The company has worked on the project since 2003 and uses iCue Server, iCue Player and real-time MPEG encoders to create a complete monitoring and distribution workflow.
A dedicated secured infrastructure makes incoming television signals continuously available not only to the DLR control centre in Oberpfaffenhofen but also to ground-control stations around the world, from Houston and Moscow to Paris and Naples.
The iCue video system provides several functions for mission control.
All image material is recorded continuously, edited on the fly and archived at the same time. Slow motion and frame-by-frame streaming support detailed analysis. Signals can be forwarded to broadcasters in broadcast quality for news or science programmes, requiring substantial bandwidth. Selected data can also be compressed with H.264 and streamed in a four-way split screen to use links to external sites more economically. The DLR and ESA therefore receive a software-only recording and distribution system for both streaming servers and players in the Columbus Control Centre. Its modular design is also intended for customers with existing server hardware that want to distribute television and video data through network protocols and IPTV.
The system is intended to support video-data processing in applications ranging from research to commercial use.
