is it true that a satellite at 22,000 miles in space can read a license plate on a vehicle?? ive heard this for many years but never really thought about it untill now
2006-10-10 18:52:10 · 10 answers · asked by james_a_willis 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
No, but the NSA is happy that you think so.
The images from Google Earth and other satellite phots are not taken from 22,000 mile orbits. All of them are in near-earth orbits, on the order of 300 miles. The resolution required to read a license plate at 300 miles is 50 times the resolution of the Hubble Telescope, which cost about 2 billion dollars to make.
2006-10-10 18:54:59 · answer #1 · answered by arbiter007 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I hardly think so but :-
I know of an English farmer who was told off by the ministry of agriculture for illegally having cattle on his set-aside land that should not of been grazed ( it is a stupid EU law I won't go into details ) The Ministry told him they had proof in the form of pictures to to show him that had been taken by satellite. He denied the charge, and asked for the photos to be "blown up". But the Min. got a red face,when the photos were enlarged the animals on his land turned out to be wild deer!
2006-10-11 02:26:35 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
22,000 miles up is geostationary orbit for communication and weather satellites. Spy satellites orbit at only 200 miles or so.
Still, from that lower altitude reading a newspaper headline is probably stretching it.
2006-10-11 02:21:01 · answer #3 · answered by Holden 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
ya. You should know that recently google has launched its own satellite which can do it. Its called google earth. Although it isnt that clear but its magic for the time and a very big aspect of development and just think if google can do that what nasa may have already done.
2006-10-11 02:17:45 · answer #4 · answered by vishal_willpower 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, satelites don't have that sort of resolution.
You'll see images on, say, google earth or some such, that seem extremely detailed, but those aren't actually satelite images - they were taken from airplanes.
2006-10-11 01:58:17 · answer #5 · answered by extton 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
yes look at google earth , there are places where you can see the shadows of people, and where you can see clearly the windows of a car.
2006-10-11 01:54:55 · answer #6 · answered by gjmb1960 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yea some can read the serial number off a 20 dollar bill :)
2006-10-11 02:00:23 · answer #7 · answered by nismoracing00 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
no that can not get that close..they can only go as far as a street you can only view above head they can not look at things straight on
2006-10-11 01:55:57 · answer #8 · answered by rocaxx420xxwear1 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Not yet.
2006-10-11 12:16:41 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i dont think it can
2006-10-11 02:00:06 · answer #10 · answered by mari 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋