Mehr als 20 Kameras zeigen live den Aufstieg und Sprung aus der Stratosphäre. Produziert wird das Event im Auftrag des Red Bull Mediahouse. In Zukunft wird das Material natürlich – wie auch die anderen Red Bull Action Contents – auch für Digital Signage Nutzung zur Verfügung stehen.
Für Technikfans hat Red Bull das Setup veröffentlicht.
Fact Sheet: Camera and Communication Systems
Camera and communications systems are essential to establish visual contact with Felix Baumgartner in order to document the mission’s progress in real time and for future review, and to broadcast the images to a global audience. The challenges of providing extensive still and moving image coverage from multiple perspectives, data transmission, and wired and wireless communication in the extremes of the stratosphere have proven as complex as every other mission component.
IN-FLIGHT CAMERAS
CAPSULE
- Nine high-definition cameras
- Three 4K (4,000 x 2,000-pixel) digital cinematography cameras
- Three high-resolution digital still cameras
- Pressurized electronics “keg” containing more than 125 electronic components and approximately two miles of wiring
PRESSURE SUIT
- Five small high-definition video cameras: two on each thigh and one on Felix’s chest pack
QUICK FACTS
The Red Bull Stratos camera system configuration is unique. Most cameras required modification or special electrical and thermal systems to function in near space.
- Cameras have trouble working in extreme cold and extreme heat, as well as in a near vacuum. All cameras have been tested in a special chamber that simulates the conditions of high altitude. Where necessary, cameras have been placed in custom pressurized housings designed and built by FlightLine Films and Micar Fabrication & Design Company. When filled with nitrogen gas, the housings simulate the environment on Earth.
- Four of the capsule cameras are space-rated units attached to the exterior base, eight are in the pressurized housings also on the exterior, and three to the interior. All will be remotely controlled from the Mission Control Center.
- The capsule’s nine advanced HD cameras each individually record to solid-state RAM (random-access memory) recorders and each is routed to one of three digital video transmitters for live viewing on Earth.
- Special filters are used on some of the Red Bull Stratos cameras because the brightness of the sun is more intense in the upper stratosphere.
- It is anticipated that some of the cameras inside the Red Bull Stratos capsule will be covered in ice upon touchdown.
- The suit cameras must function in near-space conditions for up to 20 minutes, as well as at supersonic speed and in any orientation (upside-down, sideways, etc.).
- The Red Bull Stratos capsule and Felix Baumgartner’s pressure suit have more HD cameras than most 45-foot television production trucks.
- A typical satellite uplink truck has one or two channels of microwave video. The Red Bull Stratos capsule has three.
OPTICAL GROUND TRACKING CAMERA SYSTEM
To achieve a live broadcast from 23 miles above the Earth, an optical ground tracking camera system was developed with features ranging from infrared to high-definition cameras. This system is called the “Joint Long-range Aerospace Imaging and Relay” (JLAIR). Two JLAIR units are used for the Red Bull Stratos project.
The JLAIR’s primary imaging equipment includes:
- High-definition P2 camera (up to 60 frames per second)
- 4K (4,000 x 2,000-pixel) camera (up to 120 frames per second in 2K mode)
- Shortwave infrared camera
- Digital still camera
The JLAIR Optical Tracking System offers capabilities not previously available to the private space industry or production companies:
- It carries a variety of high-power zoom lenses and large telescopes attached to an 8,000-pound motorized pedestal, previously used to track Space Shuttle launches.
- The control room allows technicians to select the best images available and transmit them in real time to Mission Control and/or broadcast viewers.
- JLAIR 1 is the first fully integrated tracking system on one vehicle chassis that includes an optics payload of over 1,000 pounds, an air-conditioned control room, an on-board generator for the tracker and sub-systems and encoding and satellite transmission of HD video.
- JLAIR 2 shares the same features but employs a traditional trailer-mounted pedestal with separate control truck for mission flexibility.