Who needs to sit outside and gaze at the stars when you can get a more detailed view of space happenings from your television or smartphone? If you’re looking for a different kind of space-escape than simply staring at the stars and old video footage, then NASA’s new channel might be for you – that is if you have the right TV. 

NASA announced today that it has teamed up with Harmonic – a video delivery infrastructure company – for the November 1 launch of 4K (Ultra-HD) version of its current space-focused television channel.

The channel, which NASA claims is the first non-commercial UHD channel in North America, will be sourced from high-resolution images and video generated on the International Space Station and other current NASA missions, as well as re-mastered footage from historical missions.

“As NASA reaches new heights and reveals the unknown, the NASA TV UHD channel can bring that journey to life in every home,” Peter Alexander, chief marketing officer at Harmonic said in a statement.

The new offering, made possible through the Space Act Agreement between Harmonic and the NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, will have the capability of delivering video content, four times the resolution of HD video.

Viewers can access the footage via wide range of 4K and UHD TVs and other devices. However, NASA points out that Harmonic is still currently in discussions with pay TV operators to carry the channel on satellite, cable and optical networks for consumer access.

NASA’s current channel is not available on widely used services like Comcast and Time Warner, the Verge reports.

Those hoping to stream the channel on the internet must have at least 13 Mbps access connectivity, NASA says.

[via The Verge]

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