jeffg@tekecs.GWD.TEK.COM (Jeff C. Glover) (03/21/89)
Could the SPOT imaging satellite photograph the Shuttle while it's
in orbit? Several things must be true:
+ the depth-of-field of the lens system must be sufficient to cover both
the shuttle and the earth (doubtful)
+ the timing; shuttle moving too fast, or SPOT moving too fast, or
shutter speed of the camera aboard SPOT
+ resolution
+ spectral issues - white shuttle on blue background?
Let me know what your back-of-the-envelope calculations yield, and if
it turns out to be reasonable, maybe we could get SPOT to try it!
This is the result of watching a program running on a Macintosh
tracking both the Shuttle and SPOT - their images coincided briefly.
SPOT is at about 800km altitude while the shuttle was about 250-300km,
if I recall correctly.
(BTW, LANDSAT seems to be going downhill, but I'll entertain arguments
about whether LANDSAT could do the job)
--
Jeff C. Glover, Tektronix Platform System Software
PO Box 1000, MS 61-049, Wilsonville, OR 97070 Video/Image Processing
jeffg@loki.WV.TEK.COM (503) 685-2207 Interactive Technologies Division