NASA’s Multichannel Digital Television network (MCDTV) takes video content originated at places such as the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and JPL in California and route it to NASA HQ via the NASA TV wide-area network (WAN) and NASA Integrated Services Network (NISN) and then up to a Satellite for distribution to cable head ends, schools, and other receivers.
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The first live HD broadcast from space happened last year and is seen here being displayed on the NASDAQ Sony Jumbotron in New York's Times Square.

Troy Cryder rolls tape to a bank of Panasonic DVCPro HD AK-HC1400 VTRs documenting activities leading up to the launch of STS-118 and the Space Shuttle Endeavor. This was the first launch captured live with high definition.

The recent launch of Space Shuttle Endeavor STS-118 was the first ever shot live with HD. The box cameras used for launch coverage are a mix of Panasonic AK-HC900 and AK-HC1500 720P60 HD cameras. Public Affairs also uses several camcorders at various locations prior to and during launch. They are a mix of Panasonic AJ-HDC27 Varicam and AJ-HDX900 camcorders.

NASA Videographer Rodney Grubbs gets ready for the launch of STS-118 with long-lens video and photo cameras that track and capture shuttle liftoff and follow the space craft for miles after launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

In support of the recent Shuttle mission STS-118, Astronauts underwent weightless training at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Lab at Johnson Space Center in Texas. Here, a NBL videographer uses a Hydroflex Underwater HD camera to capture high-definition video in 1080i. A version of the captured footage may later be shown on NASA TV.

Like any other television network, NASA TV has hosts for programs that help explain various missions and technology. Here are some from programs produced at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

Television Master Control at Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

Goddard's video department, along with the other 10 NASA centers around the country, makes great use of green- and bluescreens so show hosts can be virtually anywhere.

NASA Mission Control at the Johnson Space center is DTV and HD ready with new 16x9 monitors and main display.

As recently as five to six years ago, astronauts on board the Space Shuttle were shooting with Hi-8 cameras. Here, a mission specialists on STS-83 uses a Canon camcorder.

An astronaut onboard the International Space Station anchors her DVCAM camera as she gets ready to document a weightlessness experiment.

Astronauts on Shuttle mission STS-105 prepare for a daily video broadcast.