FOTO: NASA: LA TIERRA cara 2: EL OTRO LADO HEMISFERIO ESTE: FOTOS FLICKR: BLUE MARBLE EARTH IMAGES

Por que la gente lo pidió, la agencia espacial estadounidense (NASA) publicó en alta resolución el hemisferio Oriental de la Tierra en el que se ve con la mayor calidad alcanzada a los continentes de África y Europa y parte de Medio Oriente.  Como lo hizo con la cara que mostraba a América en días pasados, las imágenes que tomó el satélite Suomi NPP el 23 de enero armaron una postal única de nuestro planeta que se construyó gracias a una nueva tecnología denominada Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite o VIRS.  El retrato de la Tierra fue tomado a 12 mil 742 kilómetros sobre su superficie, si pensamos que un balón representa al planeta y lo colocamos a ocho centímetros de nuestra cara es el equivalente a la distancia a la que se encuentra el satélite.  De acuerdo con los datos del perfil de Flickr de la NASA, la imagen que se publicó el 25 de enero ha sumado más de 3.1 millones de vistas hasta ayer, haciéndola la imagen de la agencia más vista en tan sólo una semana. 

VIIRS Eastern Hemisphere Image - Behind the Scenes02.02.12

NASA scientists created the two new 'Blue Marble' images from data acquired by a new instrument that's aboard the Earth-observing satellite Suomi NPP, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). Credit: NASA/NOAA
View on Flickr →

The Suomi NPP satellite is in a polar orbit around Earth at an altitude of 512 miles (about 824 kilometers), but the perspective of the new Eastern hemisphere 'Blue Marble' is from 7,918 miles (about 12,743 kilometers). NASA scientist Norman Kuring managed to 'step back' from Earth to get the big picture by combining data from six different orbits of the Suomi NPP satellite. Or putting it a different way, the satellite flew above this area of Earth six times over an eight hour time period. Norman took those six sets of data and combined them into one image. Responding to public demand, NASA scientists created a companion image to the wildly popular 'Blue Marble' released last week (January 25, 2012). Credit: NASA/NOAA
View the original here: Flickr →

For reference:

Over its lifetime the International Space Station's altitude has been between 205 miles (about 330 kilometers) and 255 miles (410 kilometers) above the Earth's surface. That brings your 'basketball Earth' closer to your face at about five-sixteenth of an inch (about point-eight centimeters) away. The original 'Blue Marble' image is a photograph taken by the Apollo 17 astronauts as they traveled toward the moon. It was taken at a distance of about 28,000 miles (45,062 kilometers). That puts your 'basketball Earth' at over 30 inches (76 centimeters) away from your face, or roughly an arm's length away. The moon is about 238,857 miles (384,403 kilometers) away from the Earth's surface. That puts your 'Earth basketball' about 25 feet (about 7.6 meters) away, which is roughly the distance a three-point line on a basketball court is from the basket. According to Flickr, that Western hemisphere Blue Marble 2012 image has more than 3.1 million views as of February 1st, making it one of the all-time most viewed images on the site after only one week.

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. . . kikka-roja.blogspot.com/