History
The year Nadar took the first aerial photograph from a balloon
What is 1858?
The words this acronym stands for: Radio Detection and Ranging
What is RADAR?
The full name of NASA
What is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration?
This NASA satellite studies the water cycle, including precipitation and evaporation
What is Aqua?
This orbit is approximately 200–2,000 km above Earth
What is Low Earth Orbit (LEO)?
In the 1880s, cameras were lifted to take aerial photographs using these unpowered platforms
What are kites?
This instrument uses laser pulses rather than radio waves to measure distance
What is LIDAR?
This satellite series uses multiple spectral bands to observe Earth’s land
What is Landsat?
The full name of GOES
What is the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite?
GPS satellites use this orbit at approximately 20,200 km altitude
What is Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)?
This country launched Sputnik 1
What is the USSR?
In the Landsat program, “TM” stands for this
What is Thematic Mapper?
Launched in 1999, this Earth Observing System flagship carries MODIS, CERES, and ASTER
What is Terra?
The first satellite focused on the oceans and the first to carry synthetic aperture radar
What is SeaSat?
This orbit allows a satellite to appear stationary over a fixed point on the equator
What is geostationary orbit (GEO)?
The date Sputnik 1 was launched
What is October 4, 1957?
Compared with the seven bands of TM, ETM+ has this many bands
What is eight?
This satellite studies Earth’s ozone layer, air quality, and climate
What is Aura?
This instrument monitors ocean primary production and phytoplankton processes using eight narrow spectral bands
What is SeaWiFS?
This orbit passes over or near both poles and supports global Earth observation
What is polar orbit?
Launched on January 31, 1958, this was the first US satellite
What is Explorer 1?
This instrument aboard Terra and Aqua measures broadband radiative energy flux
What is CERES?
This satellite studies global atmospheric carbon dioxide and replaced the failed original OCO mission
What is OCO-2?
This 36-band imaging instrument flies on both Terra and Aqua
What is MODIS?
Satellites in this orbit stay fixed over one point on the equator, while satellites in a geosynchronous orbit have a roughly 24-hour period but can trace a figure-eight if inclined
What is geostationary orbit?