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The PR part also applies to Earth Observation Satellites (ESA and EUMETSAT). (Almost) any time you see a wide area picture of the Earth from Space (particularly
by aeroman 3y ago
The PR part also applies to Earth Observation Satellites (ESA and EUMETSAT). (Almost) any time you see a wide area picture of the Earth from Space (particularly around a weather event), it comes from NASA's MODIS instrument [e.g. 0].
The European (approximate) equivalent, AATSR, had a lot of really nice scientific qualities, but it was missing a blue channel, meaning that the 'true-colour' images it produced always had a blue tint to the clouds. There was a similar problem with the European geostationary satellite imager (SEVIRI) [1].
Scientifically, SEVIRI was incredibly useful (and far in advance of the American equivalent at the time), but the lack of a blue channel meant that it was never really used for those shots that made it onto the news (and neither was AATSR). When you have spent multiple billions on a satellite programme, you generally want the public to see it.
I remember being told at one point that this was considered such an issue that the Europeans would 'never launch a satellite without a blue channel again' - although that might be overstating it a little.
[0] - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11901718 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11901718
[1] - https://www.cloudsandclimate.com/blog/got_the_blues/ https://www.cloudsandclimate.com/blog/got_the_blues/
- kortilla 3y agoIt shouldn’t be surprising. Unless you’re operating outside of a regime of democracy, you have to convince the majority (i.e. very dumb people by academic standards) that it’s worth it. 7th graders control your budget.
- dougmwne 3y agoIt’s funny how well that fits in with cultural stereotypes. The US had an insane culture of self promotion and salesmanship. Europe has a culture of intense elitism. ESA designed an excellent satellite that focused on the “right” goals, and promptly forgot the dirty peasants whose money they were really spending.
- gessha 3y agoFew things can beat the Saturn V launch video [1] with the enhanced audio in terms of sheer US domination propaganda and I don’t mean it in a bad way. Those close up shots of the rocket and the massive letters USA plastered everywhere is a textbook example of how to market space related projects. [1] - https://youtu.be/ViNcBQ8cDA0 https://youtu.be/ViNcBQ8cDA0
- samstave 3y agoJames Burk Connections Launch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCJh5D0FCZk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCJh5D0FCZk
- Dalewyn 3y agoSimilarly, the Hubble Space Telescope has done more to raise and advance interest in space among the commons than anything else in unmanned space exploration.
- raverbashing 3y agoTrue Remember Juno was also almost launched without a camera as well