Google-Sponsored Satellite Sends First Images

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The Google-sponsored satellite GeoEye-1 has sent back its first set of pictures. Pretty cool stuff although I am not sure if there is supposed to be a difference between these images and regular satellite pictures. Hit the link if you want to all three dozen images but be warned, even on my 10Mbps down broadband connection, the site is really slow.

The high-resolution color image from GeoEye-1, which was launched September 6 from a US air force base in California, was of a university campus in Pennsylvania, satellite operator GeoEye Inc. said in a statement.
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The images look to have more color in them verses their normal sat option on google maps
 
I'm not sure what is more amazing... The satellite pictures or that Alaska has 10Mb internet connections. Do they bring them straight into the igloos? Maybe I shouldn't have said that. My lawn may get the punishment! :)

I'd like to see some images of Malibu beach. :D
 
You know you've made it big when you have your own fleet of Earth-orbiting satellites. Next up is your own secret underground city.
 
The difference is mostly that this is the first satellite to offer full color images at this resolution. Anything Google currently has that is at this resolution or higher is aerial, i.e. taken from a plane. Which is why you don't generally find the high res stuff of rural areas, only cities(too expensive). The satellite is always there, with a basically fixed price. Plus you get less of a parallax effect with a satellite than with aerial. What's most amazing about this though is that it's only the first image to come off the satellite. This was taken with the initial calibration and focus and will get even better very quickly.

As for this being "Google's" satellite, Google is going to be a large customer, but the biggest sponsor is the government by far.
 
Hmmm. Downloaded a "high res" version. I've seen better resolution come from 10 year old images from Microsoft or Google Earth...

Zoom in and it looks like shit. Maybe if I use my "image enhancer" that I got from several TV shows. :D

I know that those aren't the highest res that they have from there, but those are crap for even putting on for an example... (that sentence made little sense, I know). I'd put the best of the best on there for an example. And high res = 50 MB non-compressed image (or bigger). I remember a NY sat picture that was something like 100 MB and it was VERY detailed. You could almost see the ants. That impressed me. Google does not. I'll be waiting for better images.
 
Ur_Mom said:
I'm not sure what is more amazing... The satellite pictures or that Alaska has 10Mb internet connections. Do they bring them straight into the igloos? Maybe I shouldn't have said that. My lawn may get the punishment! :)

I'd like to see some images of Malibu beach. :D
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lmao!

trick_m0nkey said:
You know you've made it big when you have your own fleet of Earth-orbiting satellites. Next up is your own secret underground city.
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They probably have this underground hive, except, perhaps the surface buildings names are really the names of the underground complex, or GooglePlex :eek:
 
Ur_Mom said:
Hmmm. Downloaded a "high res" version. I've seen better resolution come from 10 year old images from Microsoft or Google Earth...
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What you see on Google Earth is usually aerial photography, not satellite imagery. Satellite imagery on Google Earth is used for very remote locations and is of much lesser quality than what you just saw. I believe the resolution gets as low as 1 pixel = 15 meters.
 
trick_m0nkey said:
You know you've made it big when you have your own fleet of Earth-orbiting satellites. Next up is your own secret underground city.
Click to expand...

Google probably has a superfortress on the moon with a big laser canon which they call the "death star".
 
heh I used to live close to that college


Google government ftw
 
haven't checked the high res version, but is it me or does the version on the frontpage contain alot of CA (Chromatic Abberations). :) , still much more crisp, warm and detailed pics from what i've seen before,
 
Does anyone know when they are going to start replacing the current set of images?

I'd like to have the updates set of Steve Fossets crash area before they remove the wreckage, or at least put up the ones that were being used for the search (I don't know where they put them since the ones there now are from 2006)

I Really like to get a shot of my grandparents farm in Australia.. you can go down half the street they are one and the plot before theirs turns into a green blob that covers about another 10-15m
 
I don't know about replacing the images, there is a big purchase button on the site though.
 
I don't know how long it will take google to update their database with it's imagery, but NGA definatly has priority over thing - Since they are funding more then half of the operation. The government always comes first. It should also be noted that NGA is the only organization that has access to the full resolution imagery. The second sat. being shot up a few years from now will offer twice the resolution of what this current bird offers - But once again, Google/Commercial entities are only allowed a maximum resolution of 50cm.
 
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