Most HD televisions have a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels, most movie theaters show 2040×1080 (2K) to 4096×2160 (4K). The Epic Dragon camera from RED delivered to the astronauts aboard the International Space Station last January can shoot in stunning 6144×3160 pixels, or 6K. That kind of resolution not only produces out-of-this-world HD, but it should provide even more insight into experiments that we’ve done many times before.

In the above video, astronaut Terry Virts first creates an orb of plain old water, held together by the molecular bonding happening between the particles. Next, he places an “effervescent tablet” (I guess NASA doesn’t want to be sponsored by TUMS) inside the orb. The bubbles then permeate the water sphere.

It’s a fluid dynamics experiment that’s been done in space before, but at this resolution, we can see tiny ejections of water and carbon dioxide gas constantly exploding from the orb’s surface. It’s not exactly groundbreaking, but it is something that us Earthlings wouldn’t be able to see well without the HD cameras.

And NASA is committed to bringing this glorious HD to the public. Every few weeks, NASA will be uploading 6K videos to its ReelNASA YouTube channel. “Perhaps they may not be as good as the view from orbit,” NASA writes, “but pretty close.”

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IMAGES: NASA