Since humans first flew in space, nothing has captivated astronauts more than the view of home out the window of their spacecraft. In honor of Earth Day, April 22, NASA will make those views available to people here on Earth with an event highlighting imagery taken by astronauts and the science behind it.

For the first time ever, NASA Television will air...

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got really excited about this until I realized the HD is only available on C band.....if D* or E* or cable companies don't pick it up and rebroadcast it, how many people can actually see the HD version?

If you explore the NASA site, it looks like they make some of their documentaries avaialble for download. Those files for Quicktime or Media Player (mpeg2 format) can be viewed on your computer or burned to a DVD for viewing in your theater. Let's hope that is the case for Earth Day programming.

If you own a PS3 you already have breathtaking high definition views of Earth as seen from a spacecraft. I accidentally discovered this when listening to music on my iPod while plugged into the PS3's USB port. There's a cryptic PS3 menu that appears with various symbols. Click on the Saturn-shaped icon until moving HD views of the Earth appear. Some of the views are so brilliantly beautiful they defy description. This is a great way to show off your HD display by the way.

Henry