STS-42 Electronic Still Camera (ESC) Digital Imagery

This directory contains selected ESC images of "Earth Views"
taken by the crew of STS-42.  

ESC System:
The method for producing these image files was engineered by
Johnson Space Center personnel in support of Manned 
Space Flight.  Digital files enable astronauts to download
high resolution still images to ground support personnel
while astronauts are still in orbit. The ESC camera has                         a 1,024 by 1,024 array that takes the place 
of film as the storage media.  The front end of the camera
uses a full compliment of lenses and filters that any other
Nikon F4 is able to use.  The image file are send 
to the ground by using the Space Shuttle's digital downlink 
system and the KU band antenna.  Files not downlinked are 
stored on 40Mb diskettes.  

Data Structure:

For each ESC image there are two files.  The first is text file
which describes when and where the image was taken.  The name
of this file is composed of the image number with a ".txt" extension.

The second file associated with each ESC image is the image data.
Each file is composed of 1024 lines by 1024 pixels (columns) 
with no header bytes.  The data is 8bits deep (256 gray shades).

Any questions about this data may be directed to ERSAF
personnel at 713-483-5162. 

Environment Remote Sensing Analysis Facility (ERSAF)
NASA/JSC