Check out the activities below to learn more about the airplanes, satellites and people who gather images and photos from high above the Earth and the information is studied to better understand our world.

Jump to a Section: What tools are used to gather information?      What do we see?      Who works to gather information?

Jump to an Activity: Explore Your World from Above      Spot the Difference

Words to Know

Aerial = existing or happening in the air

Reconnaissance = gathering information about a place or situation before taking action

Satellite = an object placed into orbit around the earth, moon, or another planet that is used for communication or collecting information

Radar = a system that uses radio waves to detect the location and speed of objects like planes, ships, and spacecraft 

What tools are used to gather information?

Scroll through this image carousel to learn more about the tools and aircraft used in the past and present.

  • A black camera that is largely one large circular lens.
    Download Image

    Cameras

    A camera is one of the most important tools for gathering information. The first camera was invented in 1816, and the first roll film cameras were made in 1888. As cameras became more advanced, the more information we could gather from photos.

  • A black and white photograph of a balloon inflating above the trees.
    Download Image

    Balloons

    The very first photo from the sky was taken in 1858 by a French photographer in a hot air balloon. Cameras can be used by a person in a hot air balloons basket or attached to different types of balloons that don't carry people, like this Explorer II that flew very high in 1935 to study Earth's atmosphere.

  • A series of kites fly, they are a polygon shape with a large rectangular opening in the middle.
    Download Image

    Kites

    Kites of all different shapes and sizes have been experimented with for aerial photography since the 1880s. Inventors had to figure out how to attach the camera, balance weight, and trigger the camera shutter since kites don't carry people. 

  • A giant four sided kite. Several men stand in front of the kite, and it is more than twice as tall as they are.
    Download Image

    This 18-foot kite made by the army in 1895 has a box camera with a timer attached to the kite string. 

  • 1903 Wright Flyer
    Download Image

    The 1903 Wright Flyer show on display in the Milestons of Flight exhibition in 1998 at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.  

  • A picture of a beige biplane with a star in a circle on the wing.
    Download Image

    de Havilland DH-4 

    The DH-4 was a very important military plane during World War I and was the Army's most used plane for aerial photography for 10 years. These planes performed many jobs, including forest patrols and even delivering mail after the war ended.

  • A mannequin leans out of a plane with a camera facing downwards.
    Download Image

    de Havilland DH-4 

    The person sitting in the backseat of the DH-4 could take pictures by holding and pointing the camera straight down or at an angle. Some DH-4 planes also had a window in the floor for taking pictures.

  • A black and white picture of a plane with a 35 on the side. Two people are in the plane, one pilot and one holding a large camera.
    Download Image

    As planes and cameras became more advanced, cameras could be attached directly to different parts of the plane, like the side of the backseat, in the cockpit, or inside the belly of the plane.

  • A grey-blue camouflaged plane in flight.
    Download Image

    Lockheed U-2

    By the 1950s, cameras were able to take very good quality images at very high altitudes. The U-2 was designed to carry these very large cameras. Its 80-foot wingspan allowed it to fly so high and fast that enemies could not shoot it down in it's first few years of flying.

  • The white cylindrical body of a plane with seven round windows at the bottom.
    Download Image

    Lockheed U-2

    A powerful camera took images out of these 7 glass windows in the belly of the U-2. Photos taken from U-2 planes have helped us in important military situations like the Cuban Missile Crisis and in non-military situations like monitoring the environment.

  • Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird at the Udvar-Hazy Center
    Download Image

    No reconnaissance aircraft in history has operated globally in more hostile airspace or with such complete impunity than the SR-71, the world's fastest jet-propelled aircraft. The Blackbird's performance and operational achievements placed it at the pinnacle of aviation technology developments during the Cold War. It has flown high-altitude missions over such areas as Southeast Asia and the Middle East. (Smithsonian Institution)

  • Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Landing at Dulles
    Download Image

    Lockheed SR-71

    The U-2 only carried one camera, but the SR-71 could carry multiple cameras and other signal detecting devices in the nose of the plane. It could fly as fast as 2,500 miles per hour and as high as 8,500 feet above the ground!

  • A large camera housed in a blue metal frame.
    Download Image

    Corona Spy Satellite

    The Corona program was America's first successful attempt at using satellites for photo reconnaissance. This picture shows the KH-4B camera, the most advanced camera used in the Corona program.

  • Corona Film Return Capsule at the Udvar-Hazy Center
    Download Image

    Corona Spy Satellite

    From 1959 to 1972, 145 Corona satellites were launched that took over 800,000 pictures of other nations as they orbited Earth. To collect the photos, the cameras had film return capsules that could separate from the satellite and drop back down to Earth.

14
  • A black camera that is largely one large circular lens.
  • A black and white photograph of a balloon inflating above the trees.
  • A series of kites fly, they are a polygon shape with a large rectangular opening in the middle.
  • A giant four sided kite. Several men stand in front of the kite, and it is more than twice as tall as they are.
  • 1903 Wright Flyer
  • A picture of a beige biplane with a star in a circle on the wing.
  • A mannequin leans out of a plane with a camera facing downwards.
  • A black and white picture of a plane with a 35 on the side. Two people are in the plane, one pilot and one holding a large camera.
  • A grey-blue camouflaged plane in flight.
  • The white cylindrical body of a plane with seven round windows at the bottom.
  • Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird at the Udvar-Hazy Center
  • Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Landing at Dulles
  • A large camera housed in a blue metal frame.
  • Corona Film Return Capsule at the Udvar-Hazy Center

Think About It 

Different aircraft in the past and today could take photos with or without people accompanying them into the sky. Do you think it would be easy or hard to design an aircraft that didn't have a person controlling it from the inside? Why do you think that?

Compare the shapes and colors of the U-2 and SR-71 planes. Why do you think the U-2 was painted white and blue? What do you think was important about the shape of the SR-71?

What Do We See?

Cameras on aircraft help record images of important places for later study.  In general, people are looking for patterns and change over time.

Activity

Explore Your World From Above

Because of technologies like Google Earth and agencies like NASA and NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) that release pictures from space, satellite images are now available to everyone from home– not just spies!

In this activity, explore your own neighborhood through Google Earth to discover what we can learn from satellite images. Use the steps below to analyze the image and the guiding questions to talk to each other about what you see.

Step 1: Decide what place to investigate.

Open Google Earth.

Fly to your location – Decide together what place you want to investigate and type it into the search bar. It could be your home address, where another family member lives, or another place you want to explore.

At first glance, what do you notice? Is there anything that stands out or surprises you?

 

 Step 2: Look for patterns, shapes, and textures.

We can tell a lot about things that are made by people or by nature by looking at patterns, shapes, and textures.

There aren’t many straight lines in nature. Anything that is perfectly straight is probably human-made. Find a perfectly straight line. Where does it lead to? Why do you think people made it?

Are there any shapes that are unique or repeated in a pattern? Places like farms, parks, football fields, or parking lots usually have organized, geometric shapes (circles or rectangles) that stand out. 

Can you see any parts of the natural environment, like a forest, river, or mountain? How are their shapes and textures different from the human made features?

A GoogleMaps overhead view of the National Mall.
Example: These green rectangles are probably human made, not natural grassy areas, because they are almost the same size and repeated in a row. The light brown borders could be man-made dirt paths created so people can walk around the grass. 

 

 Step 3: Look at colors.

Take a look at all the different colors. What colors stand out to you?

Focus on the human-made things. Can a color help you guess what material a building was made from, or what the building is used for?

Now focus on the natural things. What do the different shades of green represent? If there is a body of water, is it blue? If it’s not blue, what do you think could affect the water’s color?

Find the imagery date on the bottom left of your screen. How could the date the picture was taken affect the colors?

An overhead view of an aircraft hangar surrounded by a parking lot, roads, and many many trees.
Example: There is a lot of land surrounding the Udvar-Hazy Center that is covered in dark green or brown trees. There is also land that is light green or light brown around many of the roads. These areas are probably covered in dirt or grass. Since the dark green and brown reaches in every direction, these light colored areas probably used to be covered in trees too. Humans probably cut down parts of the forest to make space for roads and buildings.
 Step 5: Look at the shadows.

Do any shadows or dark spots surprise you? Sometimes it can be easy to confuse shadows and other dark features like water or burned land. If you’re not sure, try to find where the shadow is coming from and compare it to other shadows and dark areas in the picture.

A Google Maps overhead shot of the Jefferson Memorial surrounded by water. In the water there is a dark shadow near a bright white spot. The dark shadow is circled in orange and the white spot has an orange square around it.
Example: I want to investigate what’s in the orange circle. What could make this part of the water look darker than the water around it? It looks like a shadow but it isn’t connected to anything else on the water, unlike what’s inside the orange triangle, which has boats with shadows coming out from them. If I look closer, the object in the orange square looks like a helicopter and is the same size as the dark area in the orange circle. That must be the helicopter’s shadow!
 Step 6: Thing about what you already know.

One of the most important tools for interpreting a satellite image can be what you already know about the place. It can help you get oriented if you get lost – is there an identifying landmark? It can also help you understand confusing parts of an image. For example, if you know there was a recent wildfire, that could explain a patch of forest that is darker than its surrounding areas. 

What you know about a place can also allow you to connect satellite mapping to everyday life. What roads are most traveled on, what parks are popular to play at, or where does the town get food and water from?

 Step 7: Try a different scale.

Different types of planes and satellites can capture images at different scales. Try zooming in and zooming out of your image by clicking on the + and - buttons. Repeat Steps 2-4 to practice your image analyzing skills. 

Talk about the differences you can see when you zoom in and zoom out. When would it be important to get a closer look or to get a wider look?

 Step 8: Try looking from the same height as the U-2 plane.

The U-2 spy plane took pictures from 70,000 feet or 21 kilometers in the sky. To explore your location at this height, use the zoom in / out buttons until your camera height shows as 21km at the bottom right of your screen. Toggle the 2D / 3D button to see different angles the plane could take photos from. What can you see at this height and at different angles? 

A Google Maps overhead view. Camera 21 km is emphasized in the lower right hand corner, as is 2D.
Activity Wrap Up

Great job practicing your investigative skills! 

Many types of experts are interested in studying satellite images, including spies, meteorologists, and archaeologists. They study these images for different reasons, from national security and predicting weather to learning about human history and land use. Whether you’re looking at a satellite image or out the window of a plane, try to look with a different eye to see what you can learn.

Activity

Spot the Difference

Satellites take images of the Earth along the same path, over and over again. This is helpful for recording change over time. 

Take a look at these images. Can you spot the differences? (Hint: You can click on the photo to make it larger.)

After you've looked at them closely, click on the + sign to check if you've spotted the differences and to learn about the changes you're seeing in the images.

Ready to check your observations?

What location is this?  Las Vegas. Nevada. The image on the left was taken in 1972. The image on the right was taken in 45 years later, in 2017. 

What change is visible?  The city of Las Vegas spread out and grew, its population increasing to more than 8 times from 1972.

What tool took this image?  Landsat Satellites run by jointly by the U.S. Geological Survey and NASA.
Side by side overhead photos. On the right there is a beige polygon of fields that was green on the photo on the left.

Side by side satellite photos illustrate the before (green fields) and after (beige polygon of fields) state of Christmas tree harvesting.

Ready to check your observations?

What location is this?  A Christmas tree farm in Ashe County, North Carolina

What change is visible?  The tan area in the image on the right was where Christmas trees were harvested.

What tool took this image?  Aircraft flown by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Two photos showing overhead satellite images of Lake Powell. The left image shows it stretching out further with wider tributaries than the photo on the left.

Two satellite images taken 34 years apart show the decline of Lake Powell. The right image, taken by Landsat 8 in 2018, shows how much Lake Powell has decreased in size since 1984, when the left image was taken by Landsat 5.

Ready to check your observations?

What location is this?  Lake Powell in Utah and northern Arizona, a reservoir created by the Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River.

What change is visible?  In 1984, Lake Powell had high water levels (the image on the left).  The image on the right was taken in 2018, after a multiple year drought.

What tool took this image?  Landsat Satellites jointly run by the U.S. Geological Survey and NASA.

Who Works to Gather Information?

Meet Major Kris, a pilot of the U-2 aircraft:

Did you know the U-2 spy plane is still flying today? Learn about the evolution of the U-2 from someone who flies it today.

Meet Colonel Buz Carpenter, former pilot of the SR-71:

How did you become a pilot for the SR-71 Blackbird? Buz Carpenter knows. He started flying the SR-71 in 1975 after a week-long interview process that included an astronaut physical. Buz shares what it was like becoming a Blackbird pilot, how pilots used their 580-degree windows to heat up their lunches, and how the aircraft got the nickname Habu.

Did you enjoy these activities?

Sign up for our mailing list to get notified when more activities like this become available, learn about upcoming family days, get reminders to sign up for other family-friendly programs like virtual planetarium shows and story times, and more.

Get Email Reminders