Turkey’s satellite images to open to public ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

August/20/2013

AA Photo

The satellite images received by Turkey’s RASAT satellite will be open to the public through an online portal, the state scientific research institute TÜBİTAK has said in a statement.

TÜBİTAK’s Space Technologies Research Institute (TÜBİTAK UZAY) started a geoportal project with support from the Development Ministry and it is expected to be opened this year.

Turkey’s first observatory satellite manufactured by Turkish engineers was launched into space Aug. 17, 2011 from the Yasny Launch Base in southwestern Russia, bordering Kazakhstan.

RASAT, designed by engineers and technicians from the TÜBİTAK-UZAY, has shot images of an area coming around 3.8 million kilometers to the date.

Turkey’s two-dimension map will be available online this year.

The images are already being used by several public institutions including the Prime Ministry’s Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD), Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO), general directorate of mineral research and exploration.

In 2013, the demands from 50 public institutions and universities as well as several private firms were met by RASAT.

source: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com

Telemetry data confirms launch of South Korean satellite

Yasny, Russia (Yonhap) Aug 23, 2013

The satellite, also known as the Arirang 5, is South Korea's fourth multipurpose satellite and the first with a synthetic aperture radar, which is an advanced form of side-looking airborne radar that uses radio waves to detect changes in its target area, enabling observation of the earth's surface even at night and regardless of weather conditions.

South Korea's new multipurpose satellite made contact with a ground station in the Asian country early Friday, confirming its successful deployment into its target orbit, officials in Yasny said.
The first communication contact was made at 2:35 a.m. (5:35 a.m. KST), according to the officials from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).
The Korea Multipurpose Satellite-5 (KOMPSAT-5) was launched Thursday from a launch base in Yasny, located some 1,800 kilometers southeast of Moscow, using Russia's Dnepr rocket, a space launch vehicle converted from a Soviet-era intercontinental ballistic missile.
Beacon signals from the satellite were initially picked up by the Troll Satellite Station in Antarctica, 32 minutes following the launch, partly indicating the satellite's successful deployment into its orbit.
"The radio contact with South Korea's ground station in Daejeon further confirms that the satellite successfully reached its target orbit," said Lee Sang-ryool, the head of KARI's Aerospace Systems Laboratory who is also in charge of the KOMPSAT-5 program.
Still, it will take at least four months to confirm the satellite and all its equipment are working properly, he added.
The satellite, also known as the Arirang 5, is South Korea's fourth multipurpose satellite and the first with a synthetic aperture radar, which is an advanced form of side-looking airborne radar that uses radio waves to detect changes in its target area, enabling observation of the earth's surface even at night and regardless of weather conditions.

How the world looked 5,000 years ago!

This beautiful image is a copy of an ancient Egyptian panorama, known as the Hierakonpolis Tomb 100 mural. The mural was discovered by famous English Egyptologists F.W. Green and J.E. Quibell. While studying their drawings, Leon Flying Eagle & Mary Whispering Wind discovered that this ancient artwork is the world’s first map of the entire world. Eagle and Wind believed that the map was made by predynastic Egyptians over 5,000 years ago.

 The artwork allows us a peek into the most ancient form of cartography. Eagle and Wind called the mural the Tribes of the Earth World Map because they noted the various civilizations marked on the map. They believed that these civilizations are represented by the boats. The boat with the big prow represents Egypt. Eagle and Wind adjusted the darker background colour of the Tomb 100 mural to blue to emphasise the contrast between the land and the sea. The continents, oceans, inland seas, and even large lakes, mud flats, and straits were easy to identify.

source:  http://www.geospatialworld.net