Reply to post: Re: planet is surrounded by spy satellites

Re: planet is surrounded by spy satellites

Bahboh,

OK. Quickly searched for your example of Meteosat.

It's a weather satellite, not a spy sat, so wasn't designed for looking for small things on the surface, so much as weather patterns.

According to the info here:

The Meteosat-8 satellite belongs to the second generation of Meteosats and is much more capable than the first generation Meteosat-7 — delivering imagery from 12 instead of 3 spectral channels, with higher spatial resolution and with an increased frequency, every 15 instead of every 30 minutes. Of the 12 spectral channels, 11 provide measurements with a resolution of 3 km at the subsatellite point. The twelfth, so-called HRV (High Resolution Visible) channel of SEVIRI (Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager), provides measurements with a resolution of 1 km

So the High Resolution camera has a resolution of 1km, and records an image every 15 minutes. You might be able to see the flying saucer from Independence Day, but you've got bugger-all chance of seeing any planes.