Russia Proves Quite Useful: Beautiful Photograph of Earth from Space
Elizabeth Blackney ·
May 11, 2012 at 6:34pm
Snapped by Russia's Electro-L weather satellite, a single frame captured the entire globe. Most photographs come from images stitches together but this shows us all. Look at the massiveness of Africa. Reminds me how Mercator maps have distorted our perceptions of the world we live on.
How beautiful is this photograph? And do you believe we should reinvest in space exploration?
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Apr '11
Re: Russia Proves Quite Useful: Beautiful Photograph of Earth from Space
Space exploration I think provides many interesting and worth while challenges to overcome, and historically has greatly contributed to increasing our knowledge and expertise in the material sciences, robotics, and rocket technology. I think it would benefit greatly from a specific short term goal, though. Something that is achievable and impressive.
Re: Russia Proves Quite Useful: Beautiful Photograph of Earth from Space
Well said, agree!
Jan '11
Re: Russia Proves Quite Useful: Beautiful Photograph of Earth from Space
Invest in space exploration? I'm inclined to think we should. My three main reasons:
At the moment, the cost of exploiting space is high, and perhaps impossible for private companies at the moment, which would be my preferred path. Normally, my instincts would be to wait ... until private companies can do it efficiently, why drag the rest of us into it?
But because of its military value, we should be in space anyway ... so, while we're there, we might as well get some work done.
The "wow" of space exploration is not enough reason to justify a commitment to space, but I think the military importance and the possibility for technological advance would justify it.
May '11
Re: Russia Proves Quite Useful: Beautiful Photograph of Earth from Space
KC's argument is strong. I suspect if we eliminated fruitless farm subsidies, subsidies for alternative energy, the Departments of Education, Energy and the third one I can't remember, we could afford space exploration again.
Jul '11
Re: Russia Proves Quite Useful: Beautiful Photograph of Earth from Space
Back in 1967, a group of us took the first full disk color pictures of the Earth with a color TV camera on the DODGE satellite. The camera was original intended as an attitude determination device, when our supplier of IR Earth Limb scanners couldn’t support our mission at 6.3 Re.
The first week the camera found three tropical storms, and the first folks the boss called were National Geographic. The pictures are in the November ’67 issue of NG.
That was using a 600 line TV camera with color separation filters.
Now you can get better electronics in a $29.95 digital camera at COSTCO.
Don
Apr '11
Re: Russia Proves Quite Useful: Beautiful Photograph of Earth from Space
KC Mulville:
The "wow" of space exploration is not enough reason to justify a commitment to space, but I think the military importance and the possibility for technological advance would justify it. · 25 minutes ago
Oh man. The Wow factor is the main reason I love space. People need something to look to some great barrier to over come it gives us drive. The open oceans, an undiscovered continent, these things represent opportunity, adventure, glory. These are the things that drive men to do great things.
I think the Western lust for discovery and adventure has been one of our greatest cultural strengths. Sure it looks like we did it for money and riches, but there are so many better ways to make money than taking a ship into uncharted waters. Space gave us that sense of exploration and adventure. It made us dream big dreams, and I for one think that is a good thing.
"Space, the final frontier."
Mar '11
Re: Russia Proves Quite Useful: Beautiful Photograph of Earth from Space
Orthographic projection is well-known to give an accurate representation of what a camera would see of the Earth from Space, since it simulates mathematically what a camera lens does in projecting a spherical object onto a flat CCD (or film, in the old days).
Our lefty friends have long accused White European Colonialists of preferring Mercator projection because it makes Europe look bigger and Africa smaller.
I'm surprised that our Composite President hasn't signed an Executive Order banning Mercator projection. Oh, wait - that would give the game away.
As for Space exploration - I hope NASA returns to it's original purpose when we get a new President (carefully avoiding CoC violations).
Edited on May 11, 2012 at 8:01pmAug '10
Re: Russia Proves Quite Useful: Beautiful Photograph of Earth from Space
Elizabeth Blackney:
And do you believe we should reinvest in space exploration?
Define "we".
Nov '10
Re: Russia Proves Quite Useful: Beautiful Photograph of Earth from Space
Maybe it's the "we" part, mostly, that bothers me. Although these other claims--that space research is an "investment" (unproven), its alleged military utility (illegal --apart from remote sensing-- and otherwise mostly nonsense), "spinoffs" (the venerable tang-and-velcro argument)-- really need a stake driven through their silly hearts. You want to blast $$$ into the black hole of the Big Lonesome? Knock yourself out (a la SpaceX, et al). Just don't do it on my nickel. But even then many of these bold libertarian claims for private space ventures appear to amount (especially with NASA on the ropes) to little more than plans to sell payload to government --a kind of tax-farming. In any case, the practical value of space is pretty much limited to LEO apps, and by all means let us continue to exploit these where practical and worthwhile. Mostly, though, the 'promise' of space is just another false eschaton, for the spiritual orphans of a post-Christian era.
Mar '11
Re: Russia Proves Quite Useful: Beautiful Photograph of Earth from Space
That's what the Dinosaurs believed, also.
Aug '10
Re: Russia Proves Quite Useful: Beautiful Photograph of Earth from Space
The colors look screwy - how can the Arabian peninsula be green and Borneo brown?
Jun '10
Re: Russia Proves Quite Useful: Beautiful Photograph of Earth from Space
I agree with KC's analysis. There are good reasons to be there. And if one of the side effects is some serious "Wow" stuff, all the better.
I have just enough national pride that I'd be willing to take a few billion of those ethanol subsidies to use for some cool stuff in space.
May '10
Re: Russia Proves Quite Useful: Beautiful Photograph of Earth from Space
This is kind of like saying "roads are good for transportation, otherwise they are mostly useless". Remote sensing is an invaluable capability to which we have devoted hundreds of satellites over the decades. And you neglected to mention communication constellations like Milstar, MUOS, and Advanced EHF.
Surely you've heard of GPS and similar systems (Compass, Glonass) which are in approximately 12 hour orbits. And what about geosynchronous orbits? And the Earth-Sun Lagrange points?
Edited on May 11, 2012 at 8:37pmNov '10
Re: Russia Proves Quite Useful: Beautiful Photograph of Earth from Space
Mark Wilson
This is kind of like saying "roads are good for transportation, otherwise they are mostly useless". Remote sensing is an invaluable capability to which we have devoted hundreds of satellites over the decades. And you neglected to mention communication constellations like Milstar, MUOS, and Advanced EHF.
Surely you've heard of GPS and similar systems (Compass, Glonass) which are in approximately 12 hour orbits. And what about geosynchronous orbits? And the Earth-Sun Lagrange points? · 1 minute ago
Edited 0 minutes ago
I can't see where we're in dispute. Not sure if anyone has yet exploited an ESL.
Nov '10
Re: Russia Proves Quite Useful: Beautiful Photograph of Earth from Space
The first 50 years of flight got us from Kittyhawk to the SR-71 Blackbird. The next 50 years didn't get us much further. Of course we should invest in space exploration. Why? Because it's there. But we need to get NASA out of the way. Their institutionalize approach holds us back. Space exploration should be done by private organizations.
Jun '10
Re: Russia Proves Quite Useful: Beautiful Photograph of Earth from Space
Very obvious (and in my opinion obnoxious) color alteration. I really wish these guys wouldn't do that. (You can see the unaltered pictures at the link, so it's especially obvious.) It's beautiful enough on its own -- especially the Earth, of all places! Lots of Solar System objects have rather drab colors (the Moon is astonishing at how little color there is) and so it makes a certain amount of sense to enhance them, whether I personally agree with it, but the Earth?
And, actually, full, high-resolution pictures of the Earth are fairly easy to come by (do a Google Images search for earth from space or something similar; Russia hasn't done anything unique here, though it is indeed a beautiful picture. We've got lots of satellites up there. The days of stitching together a series of fragmentary pictures are long in the past.
Edited on May 11, 2012 at 8:54pmMay '10
Re: Russia Proves Quite Useful: Beautiful Photograph of Earth from Space
MMPadre
I can't see where we're in dispute. Not sure if anyone has yet exploited an ESL. · 1 minute ago
My dispute with your comment was that there are legal military applications besides remote sensing, and that remote sensing is not some small-time niche mission as you seemed to imply.
Second, you said there are few practical space applications outside of LEO. I gave numerous counterexamples. For a list of ESL missions just follow the link.
Re: Russia Proves Quite Useful: Beautiful Photograph of Earth from Space
Actually, the image is rare. It was taken in a single frame, set at 121 million megapixels. Most images are stitched together. The strange variations in color are due to the type of lens . It took pictures in visible and near-infrared wavelengths. Someone asked me to define 'we.' We the People, either through private or governmental structures. I tend to believe private industry will do it best, and more efficiently. I believe Americans can accomplish most things, given a chance.
Sep '10
Re: Russia Proves Quite Useful: Beautiful Photograph of Earth from Space
Great picture, but on space exploration I support unmanned exploration but I am pretty iffy on the utility of manned spaceflight.
Hubble, Voyager, Galileo to Jupiter, Viking to Mars, the Mars Rovers, the flight to Pluto on New Horizons, Mars global surveyor. These are a number of the unqualified successes of unmanned exploration. We can add weather satellites, communications and recon satellites and we are still very happy. When we get to manned flight it is much more expensive, dangerous, and while it is not worthless, most of those things could be done for less on unmanned craft. I don't hate astronauts, I just think there is little practical reason to risk their lives.
However, if a company like SpaceX succeeds in dramatically reducing the costs of manned spaceflight then maybe.
Edited on May 11, 2012 at 9:34pmJul '11
Re: Russia Proves Quite Useful: Beautiful Photograph of Earth from Space
The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite has provided the most detailed picture to date of the nature of the solar wind. This satellite orbited the Earth-Sun Lagrange point, as did ISEE-3, the International Sun Earth Explorer.