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Satellite Easter Eggs
TheChocolatay writes "Wired has a story on hidden finds in satellite images. They range from sporting events to natural disasters to bombs and firefights in Iraq. Some very interesting and cool pictures." From the article: "Part of it is that we collect so much imagery that a lot of times no eyes have seen a lot of this stuff,...And so (we) go to an area, pop it open, and wow, we didn't intend to capture this icebreaker pushing this submarine."
and even a 747 landing in Tokyo, something difficult to capture given that the satellite is moving at 17,000 mph.
Yes, I am often amazed that I'm able to jump on Earth while moving at 29.77 km/s*.
*Speed of the Earth in Orbit
The latest map they have on Terraserver of where I work (Princeton) is from 1997. The map they have of where my dad's house should be shows the empty field that was there before they developed the neighborhood. Google's maps are more current. And, I can't navigate their maps by dragging the images around, so navigation is rather awkward. I think Google has Terraserver beat on being up-to-date and easier to navigate.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
I looked up my house on Terraserver, it is not color and not as closely zoomed in as Google Maps. The image was also from 1991, I'm not sure when Google's pictures are from, but I know they are newer by the buildings around. Also, Google Maps makes it easier to scroll around by click and drag than clicking up, left, up, over and over.
Terraserver was impressive in its day (circa 1998) but almost all the data is a decade or more old, in black and white, and 1p/m. Google's data is for the most part MUCH newer and in color. Same resolution though, i wont really be impressed until i can see a sat image of myself outside cutting my lawn.
In addition to the terrorist tactical usage there is the political...for example that damn wall blocking off people's homes from their olive orchards or other places of work.
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.
"A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming, is not worth knowing" - Alan Perlis
Gyroscopes are excellent for attitude control. They can be used to rotate a spacecraft around the X, Y, and Z axises. Gyroscopes cannot, however, be used to impart linear velocity to a mass (unless it is detached), so they can't be used to change the orbit of a spacecraft. Which is why the ISS needs a capsule to dock and boost its orbit, rather than simply bringing a few gyroscopes on board.
You: "Reconnaissance satellites are steerable"
Me: "How can a satellite steer its orbit"
You: "Obviously a satellite can't"
You: "it's done wth gyroscopes"
You seem to be contradicting yourself there. First you assert that they are steeable, and now you are saying they are not. Then you go on to say that they are steerable with gyroscopes. Which is it? I guess "thinks" are still "confuzzled".
DRM 'manages access' in the same way that a prison 'manages freedom'