On 16.04.2022 astronaut Eytan Stibbe activated a radio transmission from the International Space Station. The transmission carried live information about seismographic vibrations under the Syro-African Depression. These were collected by dedicated sensors at the Dead Sea - the lowest point of contact between land and air on Earth’s crust. This information was accessed by a custom built web interface, made accessible for use through the inter-planetary internet, for one user alone. The resulting transmission from the ISS then lasted precisely 90 minutes - the complete duration of one ISS orbit around Earth at a ground speed of 28,600 Km/H.

When transmitted in outer space, radio waves never lose their energy. They only decrease in amplitude as they expand outwards, onwards and away. The transmission which is Earth Signal Universe Wide was initiated from the locus on the ISS, then refracted by Earth and other celestial objects within our solar system and beyond it, and continued expanding farther at the speed of light, traveling through the vacuum of space, dissipating to infinity. ESUW is thus an open-ended electromagnetic impasto, creating an invisible artwork as large as the universe: a living sculpture of Earth, outside of Earth and beyond the purview of Earth’s inhabitants.

Interactive Simulation

Launch the transmission and watch it unfold into space. Click and drag to change the viewing angle, scroll to zoom. Open in new window.

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Mission Log

  • 25/04/2022
    17:06:00 UTC
    The AX-1 Mission crew splashes down off the coast of Florida on board the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
  • 16/04/2022
    15:20:00 UTC
    Transmission ends after precisely 90 minutes, the time it takes to the International Space Station to circle earth exactly once.
  • 16/04/2022
    13:50:00 UTC
    The transmission begins, establishing a real time link with a seismic sensor, sending data over to the International Space Station over the Interplanetary Internet.
  • 14/04/2022
    12:00:00 UTC
    The original time slot for the transmission of the Earth Signal Universe Wide radio sculpture.
  • 08/04/2022
    16:17:12 UTC
    The AX-1 Mission launches on board the Falcon-X rocket from the Space-X launchpad at Port Canaveral, Florida, United States.