In spring 2014, SpaceX launched the NASA High Definition Earth Viewing (HDEV) payload to the International Space Station (ISS). HDEV consists of four commercially available high definition (HD) cameras. It is one of the first payloads launched on a Dragon spacecraft, which has previously carried resupply items. HDEV was mounted to the ESA Columbus module by the station's robotic arm. The cameras cover three different perspectives aft, forward, and nadir view. Hence, the HDEV payload offers the unique possibility of combining human space missions and earth observation into one outreach project The German educational project "Columbus Eye", which is executed by the University of Bonn and is funded by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), aims at the implementation of the ISS live imagery and videos in a web portal www.columbuseye.uni-bonn de. It primarily serves as a learning portal for pupils where interactive teaching materials will be provided. Based on the experiences of the project FIS (German for "Remote Sensing in Schools") and its learning portal (www.fis.uni-bonn.de/en), the material should motivate the students to work consciously with the HDEV footage in order to learn about curriculum relevant topics in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Exhibiting a spatial resolution of ~280 m, the HDEV data is well suited for observing sudden and rapid changes and processes of the land surface and the atmosphere like volcano eruptions along the ISS orbital track Furthermore, a data archive is currently developed, providing HDEV imagery free of charge via an open source web Geographic Information System (GIS). Columbus Eye accompanies the ISS mission of the German ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst (May to November 2014). A nationwide road show at German schools links his mission and the fascinating bird's-eye view of the HDEV payload. The road show has already involved an event during which pupils from a secondary school in North Rhine-Westphalia have talked to the astronaut via ham radio. Another live call between pupils and the ISS is also contemplated This paper presents the educational valorisation of the HDEV footage as well as its interactive implementation for teachers and pupils in a learning portal It will demonstrate the possibilities earth observation and human space missions provide for STEM education. The paper addresses the question of how characteristics of space missions can be used to enhance fascination of earth observation imagery in the light of problem-based learning in everyday school lessons.
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