EARTH PHOTOS TAKEN BY SATELLITE or AIR (1969-1978) - Lot 286

EARTH PHOTOS TAKEN BY SATELLITE or AIR (1969-1978) Series of 4 aurora borealis study shots Vintage NASA black-and-white prints, dated December 17, 1969, captioned on the back and numbered 69-H-1796. Taken from a NASA Jet Convair 990 aircraft, flying from its Fort Churchill base on Hudson Bay, Canada. 35 scientists from universities, industry and government agencies in the USA, Canada and France are taking part in the study, making 3 to 4 flights a week to the northern polar regions. Flying at altitudes of up to 40,000 feet, the aircraft is above five-sixths of the Earth's atmosphere and over 96% of its water vapour, two conditions that preclude effective ground-based observations.