Four commercial HD video cameras have been placed by HDEV on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS) to allow people the chance to see what Earth looks like live from space.

Hitachi, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic made the cameras, according to Sci-News.com.

"The cameras are enclosed in a temperature-specific housing and are exposed to the harsh radiation of space," NASA officials said in a statement.

The effect of space on the video quality might be able to assist NASA engineers as they choose which cameras are the best types to use on future space missions.

ISS orbits our planet once every 90 minutes and experiences a sunrise or a sunset approximately every 45 minutes.

Cameras are designed so that when the system is initially powered on, after a one to two minutes warm up period, the cameras are turned on one at a time in a repeating cycle.

"The forward looking camera is powered first, followed by the nadir and each aft looking camera, such that HDEV video ‘follows' a location on the Earth as ISS passes overhead," said Sci-News.com.

The auto-cycle mode doesn't require any input from ground operators, which means the cameras can be operated any time that ISS power and data resources are available,

The camera can also be accessed without requiring a ground controller present to operate the payload.

The only command required is the initial "Power On" command, which can be done from ESA's Columbus Control Center.

HDEV runs one camera at a time, according to Sci-News.com.

The webcast of HD Earth video feed is also on Space.com and will be accompanied by other live space broadcasts.

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