BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Natl Air and Space Museum -- Gallery 110: (a) Looking at Earth

DC -- Natl Air and Space Museum -- Gallery 110: (a) Looking at Earth:

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. GAL110_110610_002.JPG: Throughout history we have sought to better understand our world by viewing it from above. We first climbed trees and hills and fortress towers to observe the lay of the land. Today, aircraft and spacecraft look down on Earth to predict the weather, survey the terrain, monitor crops and forests, plan cities, locate resources, and gather intelligence. From balloons, to aircraft, to spacecraft, we have pushed ourselves higher and higher toward different goals and challenges. Yet, to many who have participated in these thrilling voyages, the best part of all was looking back toward home. Looking at Earth explores the technology of aerial and space observation and its many uses. The gallery displays aircraft and spacecraft and examples of the photographic and imaging devices used on them. Throughout the exhibition are countless images taken from above. Some are historic; others show scientific, military, or civil applications; others are simply beautiful. All allow us to examine the familiar from unfamiliar perspectives. Highlights include a de Havilland DH-4, a World War I aircraft used for aerial observation and photography; a Lockheed U-2, designed for Cold War aerial surveillance; personal objects of Soviet-captured U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers; and several generations of weather satellites. A "What's New" section displays frequently updated images of current interest taken of our planet from space.
2. GAL110_110610_023.JPG: de Havilland DH-4 The versatile de Havilland DH-4 played many roles in both military and civilian capacities. In addition to its bombing activities in World War I, the DH-4 was an observation and photoreconnaissance aircraft. Between the Wars, the "Liberty Planes", as the DH-4s were called, took on many different jobs, including forest patrols and geologic reconnaissance. For 10 years they served as the Army Air Service's standard airplane for aerial mapping and photography.
3. GAL110_110610_030.JPG: The Sky Spies: Early Techniques and Equipment: Bagley Three-Lens Camera: James Bagley of the US Army Corps of Engineers developed the three-lens camera around 1917. The three lenses, one vertical and two oblique, provided expanded ground coverage without adding the distortion produced by the wider angle lenses of the day. Operated manually, the camera recorded the three exposures simultaneously on one roll of film.
4. GAL110_110610_046.JPG: U-2 pilot's partial pressure suit and ejection seat. Note the cone-shaped viewsight used for visual tracking. This high-altitude partial pressure suit was worn by Francis Gary Powers while test-piloting U-2s for Lockheed after his return from the Soviet Union. First designed in the 1950s, U-2 flight suits were developed to protect against the physiological effects of high-altitude flight. Further improvements to U-2 high-altitude garments were due in part to innovations from early space suit development.
5. GAL110_110610_071.JPG: Lockheed SR-71: First flown in the 1960s, the SR-71 has the unofficial nickname, "Blackbird." It has flown high altitude missions over such areas as Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
6. GAL110_110610_078.JPG: North American O-47: A 3-seater observation plane used in the late 1930s and early 1940s, the 0-47 was designed to provide a wide field of view for aerial observation and photography.
7. GAL110_110610_081.JPG: Lockheed F-5 Lightning A reconnaissance version of the P-38, the F-5 received widespread use during World War II in Europe, North Africa, and Japan. Usually flying without back-up fighter escort, the F-5 often carried five cameras in place of weaponry.
8. GAL110_110610_088.JPG: McDonnell RF-101 Voodoo A supersonic reconnaissance aircraft, the RF-101 Voodoo flew unarmed and could carry as many as six cameras. Missions flown have included low altitude reconnaissance of the Soviet missile buildup in Cuba, and photo flights over North Vietnam.
9. GAL110_110610_101.JPG: Francis Gary Powers was flying a U-2 reconnaissance mission over the Soviet Union when he was shot down in May 1960. He was later released in February 1962, in exchange for a Soviet agent. The story of Francis Gary Powers occupies a central place in the history of the Cold War. The U-2 incident came at a time when East-West tensions were easing, or so it seemed. The abortive U-2 flight became one of the issues that canceled the summit conference between President Eisenhower and Premier Khrushchev, which was scheduled for May 16, 1960. The U-2 came to symbolize high-risk U.S. intelligence efforts and the fragility of peaceful co-existence during the Cold War. Francis Gary Powers: Imprisoned Powers spent almost 21 months in prison in the Soviet Union. During that time, he openly kept a diary of his daily activities. In November 1960 he began secretly writing a journal, which opens with a detailed recounting of the downing of his U-2. When released, Powers hid the diary and journal in a rug he had embroidered while in prison and carried them out of the Soviet Union. These items are a gift of the Powers family, unless otherwise noted Distinguished Flying Cross awarded to Powers after his death
10. GAL110_110610_111.JPG: Francis Gary Powers stuff: Rug Diary Secret journal
11. GAL110_110610_118.JPG: U-2 Camera The U-2 B camera has a 36-inch focal length and can resolve features as small as .75 meters (2.5 feet) from an altitude of 19.5 kilometers (65,000 feet).
12. GAL110_110610_139.JPG: Landsat 4: Landsat 4, launched in 1982, represented a new generation of Landsat spacecraft. Designed to complete an orbit every 100 minutes, Landsat 4 circled the Earth 14.5 times a day. Like its predecessors Landsats 1, 2, and 3, it carried a multi-spectral scanner to provide continuity with early imagery and allow comparisons of changes in the land through time. In addition, it was equipped with a new sensor, the Thematic Mapper. Regrettably, the Landsat 4 malfunctioned early in its mission and was replaced by the very similar Landsat 5.
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Description of Subject Matter: Looking at Earth
May 8, 1986 – December 2, 2018
This gallery traces the development of technology for viewing Earth from balloons, aircraft, and spacecraft. The quest for ever-higher, ever-clearer images of the Earth is reflected in photographs and spacecraft images from a few feet to 7.5 million miles away. Some photographs are mural-size.
Highlights include:
* de Havilland DH-4: an American World War I aircraft used extensively for mapping and surveying in the 1920s
* Lockheed U-2C: key U.S. high-altitude reconnaissance jet developed in 1954-55 during the Cold War era, with flight suit and typical camera, dating from the 1950s to the present
* Earth observation satellites: prototypes of TIROS, the world's first weather satellite, built in 1960; ITOS weather satellite (engineering test model), 1970s; GOES geostationary satellite (full-scale model), 1975 to the present; and models of other satellites
* Landsat image of your state: interactive touchscreen display showing orbital views of the 50 states. Visitors to the gallery can also "punch in" an image of their hometown area as seen by a Landsat satellite
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Directly Related Pages: Other pages with content (DC -- Natl Air and Space Museum -- Gallery 110: (a) Looking at Earth) directly related to this one: [Display ALL photos on one page]:
- 2018_DC_SIAIR_Gall110A: DC -- Natl Air and Space Museum -- Gallery 110: (a) Looking at Earth (4 photos from 2018)
- 2012_DC_SIAIR_Gall110A: DC -- Natl Air and Space Museum -- Gallery 110: (a) Looking at Earth (4 photos from 2012)
Same Subject: Click on this link to see coverage of items having the same subject: [(Smithsonian) Air and Space Museum (Everything)] [(Smithsonian) Air and Space Museum (Non-Events)] [Museums (History)]
2011 photos: Equipment this year: I mostly used the Fuji S100fs camera as well as two Nikon models -- the D90 and the new D7000. Mostly a toy, I also purchased a Fuji Real 3-D W3 camera, to try out 3-D photographs. I found it interesting although I don't see any real use for 3-D stills now. Given that many of the photos from the 1860s were in 3-D (including some of the more famous Civil War shots), it's odd to see it coming back. Trips this year: Civil War Trust conferences (Savannah, GA, Chattanooga, TN), New Jersey over Memorial Day for my birthday (people never seem to visit New Jersey -- it's always just a pit stop on the way to New York. I thought I might as well spend a few days there. Despite some nice places, it still ended up a pit stop for me -- New York City was infinitely more interesting), my 6th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con trip (including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco). Ego strokes: Author photos that I took were used on two book jackets this year: Jason Emerson's book "The Dark Days of Abraham Lincoln's Widow As Revealed by Her Own Letters" and Dennis L. Noble's "The U.S. Coast Guard's War on Human Smuggling." I also had a photo of Jason Stelter published in the Washington Examiner and a picture of Miss DC, Ashley Boalch, published in the Washington Post. Number of photos taken this year: just over 390,000.
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