Perspective. Perspective is the technique of representing, in an image on a flat surface, the size and distance of objects as they might appear to the eye. This technique is achieved by making the lines of the image converge on one or two points to give the effect of depth—the 3-D effect. How do these photographs assist the viewer in understanding the perspective from which they are taken?
Concrete and Abstract Images. Just as there are concrete words (red table, cold icicle) and abstract words (tired happiness, hopeful future), there are concrete images and abstract images in photographs like those on the following page. You can look at a picture of the sky, for example, and see white and gray clouds. Or you might see in the shapes of the clouds a picture of a car or a giraffe. As you view these photographs of Earth, look for continents, bodies of water, and clouds. What else do you see?
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• Science Connection. One of the important areas of study in America’s space program is Earth. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) uses space travel opportunities and technology to focus on the earth, its climate patterns, and shifts in its surface. Photographs taken from space allow scientists to examine the atmosphere, the water cycle, land-use trends, the ozone, storms such as hurricanes, and other natural disasters like earthquakes and tidal waves.
• NASA began its research in space in 1958. Since that time, great strides have been made in science, technology, and knowledge about space and about Earth. In the first ten years, NASA scientists made advances with rockets and satellites and saw Earth from space for the very first time. This global view allowed researchers to study earth sciences as a whole, collecting data about many aspects of the world from many different sites on the globe. A major highlight occurred in 1969, when astronauts walked on the moon for the first time. In the 1970s, Apollo missions, the Lunar Rover, and the Skylab made the headlines. In the 1980s, satellites put in space allowed technological advances in earth studies. Radar imaging and remote sensing became important in these studies. In the 1990s, further technological advances in earth studies added to longer missions in the solar system and in-depth studies of Mars and other planets.
• Many photos of Earth are taken from numerous space transportation system (STS) missions. These spacecraft are commonly known as space shuttles.
How would it feel to be out in space looking back on the earth?
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