Ames Imaging Experts Create Unique Views of STS-134 Launch

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Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.

All video/image credits: NASA / Louise Walker / J.T. HeineckPublic Affairs contact: Jessica Culler , 650-604-4789Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.

Imaging experts funded by the Space Shuttle Program and located at NASA's Ames Research Center prepared this video by merging nearly 20,000 photographs taken by a set of six cameras capturing 250 images per second at the STS-134 launch on May 16, 2011. From seven seconds before takeoff to six seconds after, the cameras took simultaneous images at six different exposure settings. The images were processed and combined in this video to balance the brightness of the rocket engine output with the regular daylight levels at which the orbiter can be seen. The processing software digitally removes pure black or pure white pixels from one image and replaces them with the most detailed pixel option from the five other images. This technique can help visualize debris falling during a launch or support research involving intense light sources like rocket engines, plasma experiments and hypersonic vehicle engines.A side-by-side comparison video showing a one-camera view of the launch (left) with the six-camera composited view (right).Imaging experts funded by the Space Shuttle Program and located at NASA's Ames Research Center prepared this image using fusion software to combine six simultaneously captured images they took of the STS-134 launch on May 16, 2011. Each image was taken at a different exposure setting, then composited to balance the brightness of the rocket engine output with the regular daylight levels at which the orbiter can be seen. The processing software digitally removes pure black or pure white pixels from one image and replaces them with the most detailed pixel option from the five other images. This technique can help visualize debris falling during a launch or support research involving intense light sources like rocket engines, plasma experiments and hypersonic vehicle engines.The six photographs used in the composited still image.A side-by-side comparison showing a one-camera view of the launch (left) with the six-camera composited view (right).