Google's GeoEye-1 Takes Its First Pictures 152
Kev92486 writes "I was scanning through my RSS feeds today and happened upon an article about Google's GeoEye-1 imaging satellite which launched on Sept 6. Intrigued as to what the quality of the image was like, I decided to check it out only to find that the first picture was actually of my college campus, Kutztown University (Pennsylvania).
I had to make sure I was reading the article correctly as Kutztown is not a very large or well known campus. I'm not sure as to why they chose Kutztown for their first pictures. I would be interested if anybody could provide some sort of insight as to what process was used to select the first test location. Was the satellite simply in a convenient orbit to snap pictures of Kutztown?" Update: 10/09 20:56 GMT by T : HotHardware has its own article up on GeoEye-1, if you'd like your words and pictures in the same place.
I had to make sure I was reading the article correctly as Kutztown is not a very large or well known campus. I'm not sure as to why they chose Kutztown for their first pictures. I would be interested if anybody could provide some sort of insight as to what process was used to select the first test location. Was the satellite simply in a convenient orbit to snap pictures of Kutztown?" Update: 10/09 20:56 GMT by T : HotHardware has its own article up on GeoEye-1, if you'd like your words and pictures in the same place.
So does this mean full satellite coverage... (Score:1, Interesting)
... on google maps and if so how long will it take?
Fairly Random (Score:5, Interesting)
The actual image collected was a 16 km wide swath cut through PA and part of New York. The swath was chosen based on timing and that it would be fairly close to nadir. As for why Kutztown in particular, I'll ask around, but I think it was basically just something interesting to look at(read:not trees). The calibration and focus were probably pretty good at that point in the image too. Keep in mind this is literally the very first image from the satellite, using preliminary calibration and focus, with the color bands aligned by hand. The imagery from this satellite is going to be exceptional once everything is said and done.
More info on the sat (Score:4, Interesting)
Since there's nothing interesting in TFA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeoEye_1#GeoEye-1 [wikipedia.org]
*end oblig wikipedia karma-whoring*
Playing catch up... (Score:3, Interesting)
This was the one feature that maps.live.com had over google maps - they had this clarity before Google did, and they also offer the birds eye view which gives you an angled perspective rather than straight down.
I'm glad Google now offers something similar as I like their service much better. In all fairness however, it should be acknowledged that Google was beat to the punch by Microsoft on this.
Re:That's no moon... (Score:3, Interesting)
I wonder how many readers here actually get the joke [wikipedia.org]? The thing is, it looks more like an F-102 Delta Dart/Dagger [strategic-...ommand.com] to me.
Re:What a letdown (Score:5, Interesting)
Good aerial photos have a pixel resolution of 6 inches.
Do you mean 6 inches per pixel? This [192.com] might impress you. I think it's 4cm per pixel but only available over central London for the time being.
0.41 m B&W vs 1.65 m colour resolution? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:What a letdown (Score:1, Interesting)
I'm curious, how does USA stop Google from using Russia to launch it's satellites with higher resolution?