Orbital Tracking
Information
How does the live data
from the International Space Station get into my Web browser?
Computers at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas,receive International Space Station telemetry data via
satellite downlink, process the data and make it available through the
Information Sharing Protocol (ISP). The Advanced International Space Station
Tracking Monitor uses ISPresso, a Java version of the ISP client library
which allows Java-enabled browsers to tap directly into ISP telemetry
streams. Using ISPresso, your browser will receive the ISP data directly
from the ISP stream delivered to the Human Space Flight Web server from
the Mission Control Center.
What information can I get
from the tracking monitor?
 (A)
The map of the world.
(B)
The International Space Station; the center represents its current latitude/longitude.
(C)
The blue line tracks the International Space Station's path over the ground.
(D)
The red circle around the International Space Station represents its horizon
-- the area on the ground from which the orbiter is visible.
(E)
Header Information:
GMT and Houston and Moscow times are displayed in DAYS/HOURS:MIN:SEC format.
(F)
Footer Information:
The footer contains information about the vehicles. Parameters include
latitude, longitude, phase, signal, altitude, speed, roll, pitch, yaw,
temperature, humidity and air pressure. Also included is a Zoom feature.
This feature
can be toggled on (+) or off (-). Turning this feature on will open a
window that shows a view of the selected vehicle over a zoomed, detailed
view of the Earth (mountains, rivers, etc.)
(G)
The yellow ball represents the Sun's zenith (high noon
on Earth).
Note: The Orbital Tracking Application
also provides location data on the space shuttle during missions.
Note: There may be
times when our connection to the data from the Mission Control Center
is temporarily lost, and we are unable to display the location of one
or more of the vehicles. This loss of connection is usually infrequent
and short-lived, so if this occurs, please wait a few minutes for the
signal to be regained, and the vehicle(s) should show up on the display
again.
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