got geoint?

Fifty years ago, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. He also was one of the first humans to study the planet from space, capturing some stunning images and sharing some very eloquent words. On February 20, 1962, Glenn reached near orbit and had this to report: “This is Friendship 7. Can see clear back; a big cloud pattern way back across towards the Cape. Beautiful sight.” NASA celebrated this anniversary by posting one of the photos that Glenn took, as well as excerpts from his report from this mission — which we have been kind enough to share as well.

Here’s the image:

Here are some excerpts from Glenn’s written report:

It was surprising how much of the earth’s surface was covered by clouds…The different types of clouds—vertical developments, stratus clouds, and cumulus clouds—are readily distinguished … Only a few land areas were visible during the flight because of the cloud cover …

Just off the east coast of Africa were two large storm areas. Weather Bureau scientists had wondered whether lightning could be seen on the night side, and it certainly can…Lightning could be seen flashing back and forth between the clouds, but most prominent were lightning flashes within thunderheads, illuminating them like light bulbs.

As NASA pointed out in its post, Glenn offered the following eloquent worlds when he touched down on Earth: “It was quite a day. I’m not sure what you can say about a day in which you see four beautiful sunsets in one day, but it’s pretty interesting.”

Tags: GEOINT, geospatial intelligence, got geoint?, John Glenn, Orbiting Earth, What Did John Glenn See, What John Glenn Saw