In space, no one can hear you screen…
When NASA wanted to improve the video communications system on the International Space Station, it turned to the projection screen industry for the solution. Paul Skelton reports.
On Tuesday, 14 April 2015, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was busy finalising preparations for its latest mission, to send the SpaceX 6 rocket out of Earth’s atmosphere and on its way to the International Space Station (ISS).
Among other supplies onboard was a bespoke 65” Screen Innovations (SI) projection screen destined for a new home among the stars.
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The ISS has circled the globe more than 92,500 times since its launch in November 1998. Its primary mission is to act as a laboratory, observatory and staging base for possible future missions to the moon, Mars and asteroids.
It has been manned for just over 5,300 days (14-and-a-half years). But, as Elton John puts it: “It’s lonely out in space.”
So NASA turned to Austin, Texas-based projection screen manufacturer SI to create a solution that would help astronauts to remain better connected with their families and Mission Control back here on Earth.
The result was the ISS ViewScreen, a very portable, 65”, ambient-light–rejecting (ALR), zero-gravity screen that would replace the 13” tablet-sized displays that crewmembers have been using to communicate.
“Since its founding in 1958, NASA has been devoted to innovation and to pioneering the age of space travel and exploration,” SI chief executive, chief designer and president Ryan Gustafson says.
“So, working with NASA was a dream come true.
“As a company, SI comprises a fun-loving group of innovative, dedicated professionals who continue to push the envelope every day. Now we can say that SI has gone where no other screen company has gone before.”
ISS crewmembers will now enjoy a much larger, enhanced viewing experience, video chat with their families and conduct training and simulated operations that previously had been possible only with laptop computers.
“The first thing we asked when NASA approached us was: ‘Why?’” Ryan says.
“Why do you need a projection screen in space? What is the benefit? Then we discovered the astronauts only had access to 13” monitors. That’s it. That was their connection to society.
“So the number one reason the screen was looked at by NASA was for moral. Everyone was hanging out in their own section of the station and they weren’t communicating or doing anything fun together. Now they are.
“Our screen will connect astronauts with their family in a way they otherwise would have missed out on. That is extraordinarily important. Even though they can look down and see the Earth, it’s still a very long way away. We’re helping to make that distance feel shorter.”
NASA began its search for the perfect video solution at the InfoComm 2014 Expo in Las Vegas. That’s where it came across SI and its popular Black Diamond material.
“We developed Black Diamond to be a blank canvas of sorts. One that integrators can creatively use to craft a unique and memorable experience for clients,” Ryan says.
Black Diamond is a vertical and horizontal ALR screen that has a multi-layer optic that reflects only the light generated by the projector resulting in a 900% boost in contrast.
But, after meeting with NASA, Ryan says he knew Black Diamond wasn’t going to be appropriate for the ISS.
“Black Diamond was the first flexible ambient light rejecting screen on the market, which is what attracted NASA to us in the first place, but when we really looked at the product requirements document (PRD) we realised that Black Diamond would not work in the space station.
“The screen had to be deployed thousands of times, over and over again, and it had to fit inside a very small container. Further, it had to erect in zero gravity and it had to remain perfectly flat once mounted.
“Fortunately, we had just invented the perfect technology for the job – Slate.”
The Slate .8 gain screen that now calls the ISS home features SI’s most versatile ALR screen technology to date, rejecting 65% of a room’s ambient light.
Made in the US, Slate was invented in 2013 as an affordable alternative to Black Diamond screen technology. It is available in sizes of up to a 250” diagonal (635cm) in Zero Edge FLEX, fixed and motorised screen formats
“Our dealers are installing Slate .8 in well-lit rooms, and experiencing black levels and improved contrast that were unimaginable a year ago. It really has created a paradigm shift for large screen projection applications,” Ryan says.
Slate is made from a flexible, multi-particle optic material that reportedly delivers a 55% increase in contrast over its nearest competitor and is designed to blend flawlessly with the décor of any environment.
Ryan explains that it took nearly eight months for the SI engineering team to overcome the challenges created by the interior of the ISS, which include limited space and an interior that is brightly lit at all times.
Further, permanent installation was not an option so SI had to develop a screen that could be easily stored when not in use — a difficult predicament in zero gravity.
“For the ISS, we knew we had to construct a screen that was not only portable but that could be setup quickly and easily in any air lock on the ISS.
“Each air lock has adjustable clips that connect to different places on the screen, so we used constant force springs to create a mechanism that would pull the screen completely flat in zero gravity.
“We needed something that was incredibly compact and portable, so we started getting creative. The screen had to be rolled up to get it up to the ISS, in a canister that measured less than 5cm. It also had to roll up into that canister within seconds and be reusable over and over again.”
Ultimately, the dimensions of the packaged screen when collapsed for storage could be no larger than those of a standard mailing tube: roughly 91cm long and 6cm in diameter.
Ryan says this tested the SI team’s ability to deliver on the long-time company motto: ‘to provide two-piece projection in any environment’. But it all came together in the end and all parties involved were amazed by the result.
“This really was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” he says.
“To me, it confirms what we’re doing is right. We are the future and we will change and give people something they have never had before.
“Space — it’s the ultimate environment. If we can put a screen there, we can put a screen anywhere on Earth.”
To view a video about the development of the NASA screen, visit: www.screeninnovations.com/space.
Screen Innovations is distributed in Australia by Network AV.
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