NASA is saying goodbye to its old countdown clock in favor of a new 26-foot-wide digital display for future launches.
The new, 7-foot-tall screen appears similar to a stadium television, comes with a 1280 x 360 video resolution and will be able to stream videos, according to io9. The space agency will give the $280,000 clock the tasks of providing images from different sources and the countdown launch time.
The display has several advantages over its predecessor, such as the ability to show NASA's whole prelaunch program rather than just numbers. It will also be updated whenever numbers stop counting down before the launch takes place.
The introduction of the new LED countdown display comes as NASA gets ready to send its next-generation human spaceflight capsule Orion on its first space test flight on Thursday, CNET reported.
"It's really neat to be able to see the launch pad up close on the monitor while still experiencing the magic of seeing the countdown and then the rocket rise above the tree line," said George Diller, a public affairs officer at NASA.
The previous countdown clock has been around since the Apollo launch and oversaw the send-offs of moon landings, shuttle missions and space probes. NASA will put the old clock on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida in early 2015.
