In this way, DLR has demonstrated its pioneering role and satisfied the prerequisites for the next major development step in satellite-based Earth observation – the Tandem-L radar mission” we can read in the press release. The use of radar technology based on two satellites orbiting in close formation is still unique and was key to the high-precision remapping of Earth. “TanDEM-X has opened up a whole new chapter in the field of remote sensing. Now this data has been processed into a seamless 3-dimensional world map of unprecedented accuracy of 1 meter. Over the course of the past six years the satellites transmitted over 500 terabytes of data that covering 150 million square kilometres of land surface. The mission called TanDEM-X (TerraSAR-X add-on for Digital Elevation Measurement) consists of a pair of twin TerraSAR-X satellites equipped with interferometric radar instruments that scan the same areas from slightly different angles. TanDEM-X and TerraSAR-X in formation flight The images taken by the camera were black-and-white and they didn’t show anything else than the Earth’s curvature and a cloud cover over the American Southwest but they paved the way remote sensing as we know it today. When they first projected onto the screen, the scientists just went nuts.” It flew to an altitude of about 65 miles (104 km) which is the agreed border of the outer space and took a series of pictures. The camera was enclosed in a steel case for protection as a few minutes later the camera hit the ground with an incredible speed.Īccording to the first hand reports, after retrieving the material from these early shots, the scientists went nuts, “They were ecstatic, they were jumping up and down like kids. The rocket was actually a Nazi V-2 ballistic missile prepared by a group of surrendered German rocket scientists. The first ever picture from the outer space has been taken 70 years on ago on October, 24th, 1946 with a camera installed on a rocket that launched from White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. Today high accuracy satellite images are available to everyone: you can view them on Google Maps, you can buy them for your projects from websites like Terraserver, you can also treat them as an art project. But it was not always the case.
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