Psychology of Space Exploration
grams on the International Space Station, CEO, which provided statistics summa-
rized here. Over 2,500 photographs of Earth were taken by Mercury and Gemini
astronauts. Apollo astronauts photographed both Earth and Moon views, with over
11,000 photographs taken, and have been credited with initiating the interest in
Earth observations from space.^5 Handheld photography of Earth by astronauts on
Skylab accompanied the extensive imagery obtained by an automated multispectral
camera system.^6 Over the three Skylab missions, crewmembers took around 2,400
images of Earth, and the automated camera systems an additional 38,000 photo-
graphs with specialized films.
Building from this experience and the growing interest in Earth observa-
tions from space, a program called the Space Shuttle Earth Observations Project
(SSEOP) was established in 1982 to support the acquisition and scientific use of
Earth photography from Space Shuttle flights. Located at the center of astronaut
training, Johnson Space Center, SSEOP scientists were assigned to each Shuttle
crew. Astronauts were trained in geology, geography, meteorology, oceanography,
and environmental change for a total of approximately 12 instructional hours prior
to flight. Also before flight, about 20 to 30 sites were chosen for the crew to photo-
graph while on orbit. The mission-specific sites were chosen from a list of previously
identified environmentally dynamic terrestrial areas visible from the Space Shuttle.
Each crew was given a preflight manual consisting of their unique sites that included
photographs and scientific information. The decision on when to take photographs
was at the astronauts’ discretion. A list of targets was sent to the Shuttle crew on a
daily basis during the flight. The main camera used for Earth observation was the
70-millimeter Hasselblad with the 50-, 100-, 110-, and 250-millimeter lenses com-
monly used, and both color and infrared film was made available per crew prefer-
ence.^7 After each flight, the Earth-viewing film was cataloged and entered into a
database. Paper catalogs were also mailed to a subscriber list of interested scientists
- Paul D. Lowman, Jr., “Landsat and Apollo: The Forgotten Legacy,” Photogrammetric
Engineering and Remote Sensing 65 (1999): 1143–1147. - NASA, Skylab Earth Resources Data Catalog, JSC-09016 (Houston, TX: Johnson Space
Center, 1974); V. R. Wilmarth, J. L. Kaltenbach, and W. B. Lenoir, eds., Skylab Explores the
Earth (Washington, DC: NASA SP-380, 1977), pp. 1–35. - Julie A. Robinson, David L. Amsbury, Donn A. Liddle, and Cynthia A. Evans,
“Astronaut-Acquired Orbital Photographs as Digital Data for Remote Sensing: Spatial
Resolution,” International Journal of Remote Sensing 23 (2002): 4403–4438.