Aero-News Network

Fly by Satellite Over Continental US

It's free, and you can see what's become of your childhood home, your old high school football field, or your favorite camping spot.
We all know that, when we're looking for an unfamiliar airport, it's possible to fly right over the top of it, and not see it; this gives us a chance to see what we're looking for, before we miss it.
Using imaging satellites, such as the Ikonos, TerraFly has put together sunny-daylight (yes, even in Seattle) images of the entire continental United States. Type in an address, or a zip code, and they'll take you there.
If you'd prefer to put in the lat/long coordinates, that's OK, too. The images go there, at the speed of a mouse. Details down to the size of a small car are plainly visible, in the near-vertical color images.
At least, that's how it's supposed to work. Our efforts yesterday were met with a frustrating bunch of "not available" messages. If you don't all pile on at once and swarm their server, you'll be able to get the images you want, they assured us.
The database was developed as part of a long-running computer-research project. The idea is really cool, no?
FMI: http://www.terrafly.com/ 





Reprinted with permission from copyright holder.