Livestreaming Video Cameras on Mars (And for Regular Fleets)!

In June 2018, NASA announced that they are sharing their livestreaming video cameras on Mars. This is big news because this is the first time that people can view live footage from Mars and the “Curiosity”.

NASA’s “Curiosity” Rover

Several years ago, NASA built and sent a rover to Mars to explore the planet. The rover’s name is “Curiosity”. In hindsight, it was a great name because NASA scientists were so curious about Mars that they extended Curisoity’s project time from 2 years to 6+ ongoing years.

Since its launch, Curiosity took pictures and videos, and collected soil samples. Previously, NASA privately collected data while occasionally sharing images. Starting in June, however, NASA opened Curiosity to the public.

NASA Livestream

In June 2018, NASA committed to sharing live Curiosity video on their website. This wasn’t the first time that NASA is doing a livestream.

For instance, people can go on NASA’s website for livestreaming video cameras on space satellites. The livestream was very popular because the video captures our planet. NASA expects Curiosity’s livestream to also be popular.

How do livestreaming video cameras work?

Livestreaming video cameras are not a new technology. Outside of NASA, several businesses and people use cameras.

For example, on Facebook, people can take videos with their phones and share live video on their social media.

In addition, many businesses use livestreaming video cameras on their vehicles. These cameras record footage on the road and then upload footage to a server with a built-in modem.

To illustrate, look at the ZenduCAM portal. ZenduCAM users can log into either the ZenduCAM portal or the Geotab portal. After logging in, users can click a vehicle from the livemap or the vehicle list to view its livestream.

How do businesses use cameras?

NASA uses livestream to share knowledge. Business fleets, on the other hand, might use livestream for other reasons. Here are a few examples.

Policy Checker

Some businesses use cameras to ensure that employees are following policies. For example, one company had a dress code policy for their travelling sales reps. Managers use the livestream to check if drivers are dressed accordingly.

Driver Assistance

Another way to use cameras is remote assistance. Here is an extreme story. Some taxis equip cameras and emergency lights. If the taxi driver is in trouble, they can discreetly press an emergency button.

In one taxi company, office staff noticed that the emergency light was on and looked at the livestream. They saw that there was a robber in taxi so they took screenshots and helped officers quickly arrest the robber.

Customer Tool

Finally, some businesses use cameras as a customer tool. For example, an ambulance service started using livestream to provide a patient’s family with peace of mind. The livestream is privately shared with a patient’s family, where they can log in and check footage.

Watch a livestream of ZenduCAM by filling in this contact form.

Links

International Business Times: How To Watch NASA’s Mysterious Mars Announcement Livestream