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It Turns Out Some Borders *Are* Visible from Space
Universe today ^
Posted on 09/08/2011 8:08:15 PM PDT by cold start
India Pakistani border
This picture shows the illuminated man-made border between India and Pakistan,the line snaking through the landscape, as seen from the International Space Station on August 21, 2011. Of the hundreds of clusters lights, the largest are the capital cities of Islamabad, Pakistan, and New Delhi, India. Credit: NASA/Ron Garan
There is an oft-repeated and perhaps beautiful saying that you cant see political borders from space. Well, it turns out that saying isnt true; not anymore. ISS astronaut Ron Garan took this image recently which clearly shows the border between India and Pakistan. Since 2003, India has illuminated the border with Pakistan by floodlights in attempt to prevent ammunition trafficking and the infiltration of terrorists.
Since the beginning of human spaceflight fifty years ago, astronauts have reflected on how peaceful, beautiful, and fragile the Earth looks from space, Garan wrote on his Fragile Oasis blog. These reflections are not clichés that astronauts say because it feels good. It is truly moving to look at the Earth from space.
But seeing this clearly visible political border was sobering for Garan and his crewmates.
Realizing what this picture depicted had a big impact on me, he said. When viewed from space, Earth almost always looks beautiful and peaceful. However, this picture is an example of man-made changes to the landscape in response to a threat, clearly visible from space. This was a big surprise to me.
Garan added, however, that the point here is not that we can look down at the Earth and see a man-made border between India and Pakistan. The point is that we can look down at that same area and feel empathy for the struggles that all people face, he said. We can look down and realize that we are all riding through the Universe together on this spaceship we call Earth, that we are all interconnected, that we are all in this together, that we are all family.
Garan said he believes our world is a place where possibilities are limited only by our imagination and our will to act. It is within our power to eliminate the suffering and poverty that exist on our planet, he said.
TOPICS: Arts/Photography; Science
KEYWORDS: border; goodfence; india; moat; pakistan; space; wall
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To: cold start
An orange line of fear in South Asia seen from space
THE India-Pakistan border appears as an orange line in this photograph taken by the crew on the International Space Station on Aug 21 and released on Sept 4. The fence between the two countries is floodlit for surveillance purposes. Srinagar (left), Islamabad (bottom-centre), Lahore (centre near the border line) and New Delhi (top) can be seen as brighter spots. WASHINGTON: The distrust and fear that divide India and Pakistan can also be seen from the space a bright orange line snaking through hundreds of miles across the earths surface. The line occupies a centre space in an image of the Indo-Gangetic plain the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) released this week. The crew of Nasas International Space Station Expedition 28 took the picture on Aug 21. Expedition 28 is the current, long-duration expedition to the International Space Station, launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on May 23 and is expected to return to the earth later this month. One of the images the crew sent to the earth station shows a line of lights, with a distinctly orange hue, snaking across the centre of the picture. It appears to be more continuous and brighter than most highways in the view. This is the fenced and floodlit border zone between India and Pakistan. The ISS crew took the image with a Nikon D3S digital camera, using a 16 mm lens, which provides the wide field of view, as the International Space Station was tracking towards the southeast across India. This space picture of northern India and Pakistan also shows numerous cities, large and small. Of the hundreds of clusters, the largest are those of Islamabad and New Delhi, separated by 700 kilometres, and Lahore. The lines of major highways connecting the cities also stand out. The Himalayas, natures indelible mark on the Indo-Gangetic plain, is also visible, even at night, showing its subtle but definite presence from the clouds. Allama Iqbal aptly described this towering presence on the subcontinents horizon as the rampart of the realm of Hindustan, noting that the sky bows down to kiss your forehead. Deprived of the turban of honour that, in Iqbals words, crowns the snow-covered Himalayas, the humans decorated their boundary wall with thousands of electric lights that hurt eyes. Gracefully, Pakistan has no contribution to erecting these hideous floodlights across the border. They were put by the Indian government. In 2003, the Indian government sanctioned a proposal to fence and illuminate the border to prevent smuggling and arms trafficking. In total, the Indians plan to cover 2009 km of the 2900 km India-Pakistan border with floodlights. Officials have so far erected floodlights along 460 km of border in Punjab. The extensive floodlighting continues for 1,022 km across Rajasthan, 176 km across Jammu, and 202 km through Gujarat. So far 1,861 km of the border have been floodlit. Plans are in place to erect a total 2,043 km of fencing along the border. The Indian government hopes to complete the floodlight operation by March 2012. A similar fenced border zone operates along Indias eastern border with Bangladesh. http://www.dawn.com/2011/09/06/an-orange-line-of-fear-in-south-asia-seen-from-space.html
To: cold start
Garan spent too much time in space...
3
posted on
09/08/2011 8:14:19 PM PDT
by
henkster
(Socialists and liberals all want jobs; they just don't want to work.)
To: cold start
So are the outlines of some countries...
4
posted on
09/08/2011 8:14:33 PM PDT
by
null and void
(Day 957 of America's holiday from reality...)
To: cold start
5
posted on
09/08/2011 8:14:45 PM PDT
by
Inyo-Mono
(My greatest fear is that when I'm gone my wife will sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them)
To: null and void
Pretty stark contrast when you get to the N.S. Korean border.
6
posted on
09/08/2011 8:16:36 PM PDT
by
Joe Boucher
((FUBO) Obammy is little more than a quota boy with a teleprompter)
To: cold start
To: Joe Boucher
Four more years of Obama, and we’ll be as dark as North Korea.
8
posted on
09/08/2011 8:20:23 PM PDT
by
kevao
To: cold start
Garan needs to spend some time in the India-Pakistan border region to understand why India illuminates the hell outta that border.
9
posted on
09/08/2011 8:24:08 PM PDT
by
Army Air Corps
(Four fried chickens and a coke)
To: cold start
“An orange line of fear...”
“Gracefully, Pakistan has no contribution to erecting these hideous floodlights across the border. They were put by the Indian government”
These statements are pretty telling of where the author’s sympathies lie, and it ain’t with the Indians. Considering how many attacks India has suffered which originated in Pakistan, and the ongoing discovery of violent factions in Pakistan which are closely intertwined with the Pak government, I would say India is completely justified in putting these lights up. Cockroaches tend to run for the shadows when the lights go on.
10
posted on
09/08/2011 8:27:42 PM PDT
by
Little Pig
(Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici.)
To: cold start
Looks like nerve cells from a human brain.
11
posted on
09/08/2011 8:33:27 PM PDT
by
Track9
(Make War!!)
To: cold start
North and South Korea.... guess where the border is?? :p
12
posted on
09/08/2011 8:34:17 PM PDT
by
GeronL
(The Right to Life came before the Right to Happiness)
To: null and void
lol. We got the same idea, I didn’t scroll down before I posted the pic, really.
13
posted on
09/08/2011 8:36:15 PM PDT
by
GeronL
(The Right to Life came before the Right to Happiness)
To: null and void
Telling how dark North Korea is.
14
posted on
09/08/2011 8:38:15 PM PDT
by
Minn
(Here is a realistic picture of the prophet: ----> ([: {()
To: GeronL
15
posted on
09/08/2011 8:47:57 PM PDT
by
JoeProBono
(A closed mouth gathers no feet)
To: Little Pig
That article was from a Pakistani newspaper, no wonder they think it is hideous. The fence is within Indian borders (about 150m/500ft). Anyone approaching the fence from the Pakistani side is liable to be shot at sight, especially in the Kashmir region.The Indian army routinely uses ambush teams to neutralise any unwelcome visitors. The whole area is covered with motion sensors & IR cameras.
When a country like India spends that much on a fence, you know its because they have no real choice. Pakistanis don’t really make very good neighbours.
To: JoeProBono
lol.
I have read stories that top commies have Big Macs flown in from Beijing while their people are starving.
17
posted on
09/08/2011 8:54:50 PM PDT
by
GeronL
(The Right to Life came before the Right to Happiness)
To: cold start
“We can end poverty???” Really? Jesus said, “The poor will be with you always.” I think I will go with Jesus.
18
posted on
09/08/2011 9:03:15 PM PDT
by
wastoute
(Government cannot redistribute wealth. Government can only redistribute poverty.)
To: Track9; cold start
Looks like nerve cells from a human brain. Or a computer graphic of zombie hotspots following a global zombie pandemic.
19
posted on
09/08/2011 9:29:43 PM PDT
by
spetznaz
(Nuclear-tipped Ballistic Missiles: The Ultimate Phallic Symbol)
To: cold start
I missed that it was from a Pak newspaper, which would completely explain the tone of the article.
20
posted on
09/08/2011 9:40:00 PM PDT
by
Little Pig
(Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici.)
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