Live and Direct From Low-Earth Orbit

The shuttle Discovery performs its 360-degree pitch maneuver over the coast of Spain, broadcast live on NASA TV

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: NASA has a truly impressive Web site. Apparently the only government agency these days taking the whole “public accessibility” thing seriously, NASA seemingly makes just about everything available on its site. And right now, with a space shuttle mission under way, it’s NASA.gov’s time to truly shine.

NASA TV—the agency’s own channel, available on the Web and in some satellite and cable packages—is normally mind-numbingly boring even for space-o-philes like me but actually becomes interesting during a shuttle mission, broadcasting live video from cameras onboard Discovery and the International Space Station, along with full radio transmissions from mission control. NASA even provides a minute-by-minute mission schedule, handy for knowing when to tune in for some extravehicular activity—or an “SSRMS ROBOT ARM PUMP MODULE GRAPPLE,” if that’s more to your taste. Either way, check it out and see your tax dollars being put to use somewhere up above the wild blue yonder. —John Mahoney

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