India Launches World's First Stereo Imaging Satellite

sgups writes "India will tomorrow inaugurate a new launch pad at its Satish Dhawan space port near Chennai, on the south-east coast, by putting the world's first stereographic mapping satellite into orbit. The most innovative feature of the 1.6-tonne Cartosat-1 is its pair of cameras, which will give stereo images of the earth's surface that can distinguish features down to 2.5 metres across. They will directly generate three-dimensional maps that have until now been achievable only indirectly, by combining data from a large number of satellite passes over the same place. "Such a stereographic imaging system does not exist in the civil sector anywhere else," says Mr Nair, chairman of the Bangalore-based Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro). "It will give information about heights that will be very useful in applications such as planning power lines." Cartosat-1 will join what is already the world's largest cluster of non-military remote sensing satellites. Six Indian spacecraft are already observing the earth with a wide range of instruments."

Comments

Not just stereo

[Anonymous Coward]

But HIFI stereo, which means it has the highest level of fidelity available. It also sports an 8-track.

Re:I don't get

[Anonymous Coward]

crap we hadn't thought of that..

-India

Re:Imagine the Possibilities

[imnojezus]

Mmm, check out that white pixel laying on the sand colored pixel. Boy, would I like to anti-alias her! Assuming it is a her, and not a surfboard or a trashbag or something. Eh, who am I kidding? I'm not that picky.