NASA Releases New Topographic Map of North America

robsimmon writes "Given all the NASA bashing lately (and the tendency of Slashdot contributors to assume NASA does nothing but Human Spaceflight and Space Science) here's a recent NASA success story: NASA's Newest Maps Reveal a Continent's Grandeur and a Secret. Granted, the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission did fly on the Endeavour, but it was an Earth Science mission. Interesting signature of the Chicxulub impact crater, which was not visible in previous topographic maps."

Finally

[jptechnical]

I can see my house from here!

Images are available from lots of missions/craft

[Exocet]

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/PIADetQuery.html

Images are available from the 2001 Mars Odyssey, Cassini, Galileo, etc. Go check 'em out!

Re:Images are available from lots of missions/craf

[(a*2)+(ron)]

Wow, there's some awesome [nasa.gov] stuff [nasa.gov] there [nasa.gov].

Thanks for the link!

Maybe I'm a little dense, but ...

[GreatOgre]

From the article:
The Chicxulub data show a subtle, yet unmistakable, topographic indication of the impact crater's outer boundary: a semicircular trough 3 to 5 meters (10 to 15 feet) deep and 5 kilometers (3 miles) wide. Good picture here. [nasa.gov]

I just can't tell that there is a crater there. Maybe this is because I'm an engineer and not a geoscientist or geologist. Can somebody explain to me how to tell that there are ridges where they claim there are? Without this explanation, I just feel that there are interpretting the data to fit their preconcieved idea.

Something landed there.

[Syncdata]

While it is entirely possible that they ARE interpreting the data to fit their pre-conceived notions, if you look at the larger images, not the thumbnails, you will notice a distinct circular ridge in the upper left of the photo of the yucatan peninsula.
Clearly though, this better fits my hypothesis of an independance day like alien death ray.

Re:Maybe I'm a little dense, but ...

[C21]

thats how people formulate scientific theories based on empiricism, they interpret data into their own ideas. This theory, along with every new theory, is now standing to be negated and scrutinized by anyone with the knowledge/ability to do so

try these images

[molo]

It is more clear without the dashed line in the way.

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/earth/centralameric a/pia03379_combined_340_264.jpg [nasa.gov]

I'm trying not to be anti NASA here,

[Lars T.]

but they did little more than send up the device with the Shuttle, and bring back the data on tape.

Re:I'm trying not to be anti NASA here,

[torpor]

What device, exactly, and how does it work?

Re:I'm trying not to be anti NASA here,

[Lars T.]

The Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) [nima.mil]. Google for "Shuttle Radar Topography Mission".

Re:I'm trying not to be anti NASA here,

[robsimmon]

"little more than"? how about:

design and build the instrument

extend the 2nd antenna 60 meters out of the Shuttle payload bay

develop the algorithms to get topographic data out of microwave radar interference patterns

process and calibrate data for 80% of the Earth's land surface at 30 meter resolution

you're hard to please

more info: SRTM: Instruments [nasa.gov]

Now that's what I call an image...

[JamesO]

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