The crew of the International Space Station (ISS) is getting ready for a little time travel.
From its vantage point, out-the-window photographs of the historic Lewis and Clark trail will be taken by the orbital outpost.
Between 1803 and 1806, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led a 35-member expedition across approximately 3,700 miles (6,000 kilometers) of uncharted wilderness that would later become part of the United States. They explored territory west of the Mississippi River -- beyond what was then the western border of the country. The grueling 19-month trek into strange surroundings took the travelers to the Pacific Ocean and back.
Now, two hundred years later, a network of educators, museum and university experts, Earth remote sensing specialists, and NASA's Crew Earth Observations Operations Team at the NASA Johnson Space Center are joining forces to observe the trail from space.
ISS flyovers
Coordinates for parts of the trail that can be photographed during ISS crossovers are being assembled.
The ISS will be passing over the northern U.S. in the daylight when the crew is awake starting June 2 and lasting until about July 7th.
Following these passes, there will be a break for about two weeks before the next round of images can be taken. At that point the ISS will once again start to pass over Lewis and Clark trail segments during daylight and at times when the crew is awake.
Additionally, there should be several opportunities this summer to capture some of the sites from the space station.
But as in all imagery taken from orbit, weather will need to cooperate.
Telltale trail
Why trail spotting from space?
"There is 'magic' in it," said Don Scott, a NASA Aerospace Education Specialist working out of NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. Scott was a leader in getting the idea off the ground, literally.
"There is sound educational value in targeting geographic images taken from space of historic ground sites," Scott said. Taking imagery of the trail from space yields numerous benefits, he said.
First of all, the pictures offer insight about the region, helping to understand why the trail went a certain way - or why it should have gone another route. Also, photos taken from space yield telltale details regarding just how closely maps or Lewis and Clark journal entries match the real terrain, Scott added.
Photo shooting history
Alex Philp, President of GCS Research LLC, Missoula, Montana, is an expert in geospatial data collection and is involved in trailing the trail from space effort.
Imagery of the trail from the ISS are headed for inclusion in a Lewis and Clark Geosystem Portal, a teacher-support site made possible by NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, Philp said.
"In all of my work on Lewis and Clark over the past six years, and trying to get teachers and students excited about the geography of the trail, this is one of the most exciting and purest opportunities that I have had the honor to participate in," Philp said.
The photo shoot of history from space is a perfect coincidence, Philp said, of a space station crew documenting Earth and this year's commemorative kick-off of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial. "This is the stuff that starts students dreaming about exploration, space, and one day being up there," he told SPACE.com.
Taking the high trail
Susan Runco of NASA's Human Exploration Office at the Johnson Space Center told SPACE.com that planning for the ISS trail pictures is underway.
"We are currently gathering sites from the partners and will incorporate those sites into our Crew Earth Observations mission planning software. The software tells us when the ISS passes over the site for the best imaging opportunities," Runco said.
Runco said that any of the ISS windows that are facing nadir or near-nadir (toward Earth) can be used. "But we do prefer the U.S. Lab window," she noted.
Both ISS crewmembers may be involved in picture taking sessions. A hand-held Kodak DCS760 camera is to be utilized, Runco said.
"The daylight is getting better in the northern hemisphere when the crew passes over while they are awake, so we are looking at starting to let the crew know of good passes over the Lewis and Clark sites on Friday, June 6, Runco said.
"All the partners understand that due to weather or operational constraints, we may not be able to get great photos. But that doesn't squelch our enthusiasm for trying," Runco concluded.
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