It was flown on five shuttle missions, making its maiden voyage in 1996. EarthKAM captures a mountainous region of British Columbia in Canada. Students and teachers involved with the project are given special code words that allow access to sites where they can specify their desired EarthKAM targets. Kelly Cabana, a seventh grader at South Lake, agreed. NASA releases all EarthKAM images to the general public.
Photos are available to download through the official EarthKAM website .
However, the camera will become a permanent fixture aboard the International Space Station sometime next year. Students from around the world will have opportunities to use EarthKAM once monthly for three or four days at a time. Flammer said her hope is to increase the number of participating schools to the thousands.