What's your view? New NASA website allows detective work from Earth orbit. Credit: NASA
A creative new website is available from NASA that can help improve your own feature-spotting skills and geographical knowledge about our planet – a plus in readying yourself for your own space tourism flight in Earth orbit.
Meanwhile, you can also help the Crew Earth Observations team with photographs from the International Space Station (ISS).
Check out the new Image Detective public cataloging website.
After taking a brief tutorial and earning your Image Detective badge, you can become an active participant and contribute to NASA’s mission to observe and monitor the Earth.
Two steps
There are two steps to becoming an Image Detective.
First you read through information provided below so you know how to pick an image; find its location on a map of Earth; identify the percentage of cloud cover; and list possible features visible in the image.
Once you pass the test, the user creates a login and password. Then, you can start locating astronaut images.
You can share your feedback, issues and questions with website officials and other image detectives using a wiki.
This service is provided by the International Space Station program and the Johnson Space Center’s (JSC) Astromaterials Research & Exploration Science Directorate.
Ready for some detective work?
Then go to: http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/sseop/ImageDetective/
By Leonard David