Viewing Earth From Space

There can be hardly anything as fascinating as viewing the images of the Earth clicked from space. Although the first sattelite picture of the Earth taken by the meterological sattelite TIROS-1 in the year 1960 is pale in comparison to the pictures being taken by today's sattelites, it nevertheless was significant in that direction. Today, thousands of file pictures of the Earth are available for common viewing. Even NASA releases such pictures that are helpul in the study of geography, the climate etc. They provide a glimpse of the "blue marble", that is, our Earth. Although thousands of pictures of the Earth are being taken by the sattelites on a daily basis, only a very few people have had the priviledge of actually viewing earth from space.

It is everybody's childhood dream to fly to space and view his/her home from there. Only a few have been lucky enough to have lived their dreams. But thanks to them, we too are able to see the panaromic view even though it is through the numerous pictures that they have returned with from their expeditions. The pictures of the different continents, the mighty oceans, and even the snow caps of Earth have been clicked and re-clicked for the benefit of the masses. It is said that the Mount Everest is a sight out of the world, in the true sense of the term.It is also believed that the Great Wall of China is visible from space. However, many a times astronauts have had to battle the constant fury of clouds to see a glimpse of it. Until and unless the astronauts have a concrete idea of where to look at, spotting a man-made object from space can be troublesome. Scientists have been pleasantly surprised to note that, contrary to popular belief, many other objects can be easily viewed from space than the Great Wall. Even the great pyramids of Giza, Egypt can be seen from space with the help of binoculars. A digital camera with high powered lenses was used to click the pyramids.

Cities too are visible from space and can be easily distinguished from the neighbouring wilderness. The cities are visible not just from the earth orbit but also from the space station which farther away. With the aid of high power binoculars, scientists have been able to see not just the cities but also roads, dams, and sometimes, even larger vehicles! The Google Earth site is a commonly used and highly popular site that provides one with pictures of almost all part of the globe. It is fascinating to note how one can just sit at home and have a trip around the earth, literally! Apart from the ever famous Google Earth, another site that provides one with the oppurtunity of viewing the Earth from the luxuries of one's home is the Visible Earth website run by NASA. The astronauts have also been able to view earth's atmosphere from space. Airplanes flying have also been captured by astronauts and this makes for another breath-taking view. A few pictures of airplanes reflecting sunlight have also been clicked. It is anybody's guess how beautiful that sight must be. Earth can be viewed not just from its own orbit or the space station but from the moon as well! Although the clarity diminishes as we go further and man-made objects go out of the focal point, yet the continents and the oceans remain under man's view. Not all of us may be fortunate enough to go off to space but with the pictures at our disposal, it is not such a bad compromise after all.