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Robert Simmon

@rsimmon.bsky.social

Data Visualization. Ex-Planet & NASA Earth Observatory. Blue Marble, Earth at Night, color, cartography, occasionally skewed views of Earth. Looking for a job.

2850 Posts5896 Follower1230 Folgt
Alberto Cairo@albertocairo.com · 20h ago

"Writing is an intellectual activity, not a bundle of skills. Writing proceeds from thinking. To achieve good prose styles, writers must work through intellectual issues, not merely acquire mechanical techniques" —F.N. Thomas & M. Turner, 'Clear and Simple as the Truth' 1/2

Don Davis@ddavisspaceart.bsky.social · 2d ago

51 years ago I painted a trio of Viking related works for NASA HQ including the widely reproduced one of the landing on Mars. I have reimagined the Landing portrayal in updated form using digital methods of visualization and painting. I chose the same angle but with reality replacing anticipation.

This oil painting portrays the Viking 1 landing on Mars, which appeared in countless publications. The story of this work is relayed in an earlier post and is shown here for comparison with the new portrayal of this very view, showing the event as it would have appeared. This 1975 anticipatory painting was done with oils on a gesso smoothed 16 X 20 canvas panel, using traditional art methods including a tracing paper guide featured earlier. This work shows in retrospect my ideal of the 'spirit of space art', showing something of a summary of what is known of the subject while conveying what it is about the subject's known or theorized attributes that I find visually compelling. The new digital painting updates that visual impression with one based on our current knowledge. The new digital work was also done at the same size as this one was for possible printing purposes, 16 by 20 inches at 300 DPI. #Sciart In 1976 the pair of Viking spacecraft orbiter/lander combos were sent to Mars. Before Viking, Mars was still largely a place of our imaginations, an unknown that we wrote stories about then studied from Earth and space. The dominance of cratered terrain on the portions of Mars photographed by Mariners 4, 6 and 7 gave an initially Lunar impression of that world, which changed during the development of the Viking lander after Mariner 9 revealed the planet. The first landing was aimed for a flat flood plain, judged as a decent place to search for life. The landing date was July 4, however the intended site appeared too rough for comfort in the high quality orbiter photos, causing the landing to wisely be delayed. A smoother site further 'down stream' was found using photo and radar data. The landing proceeded quite nominally, a magnificent achievement that apparently accounted for what it had to and made it the first time. The first photo from the surface was a look at a footpad to see how solid the 'footing' appeared. Then a moderate resolution panorama of the surroundings was obtained, first showing the rocks, hills, dunes-and bright sky. The latter was my biggest surprise as a space artist. The adjustments to the color balance of the later photos were gradually narrowed down. The ubiquitous dust is planet wide, suspended in the air and coloring the sky a luminous tan ochre. This digital painting shows the view a meter above the surface seeing the lander briefly kicking up dust less than a second before touchdown with the footpads 1.4 meters high. The landing rockets were designed with many nozzles to disturb the surroundings as little as possible. The nearby disturbed dust resembles in color that of the sky. We are 6 meters away from the center of the lander. field of view is 60 degrees, we are looking Northwest with the Sun and Earth off the frame to the left. This is a digital art update of the pre mission oil painting I did for NASA HQ 1n 1975. #Sciart
Victoria Rose Richards@aerialembroidery.bsky.social · 23h ago

'You'll choke too' - an aerial embroidery landscape inspired by all the wildfires happening right now... I'm upset every time I smell smoke outside and somehow we have people starting them maliciously too! But we all breathe the same air so they'll choke too (1/2 - see thread for close-ups)

An embroidery hoop containing a sewn landscape from above. It shows a forest on the right, a line of fire and charred ground with smoke on the left. The smoke is felted wool.
Nolan Hicks@ndhapple.bsky.social · 2d ago

“Republicans Let Trump Keep Unparalleled Benefit: I.R.S. Immunity: The rebellion against Todd Blanche’s nomination to be attorney general, now seemingly contained, at no point fundamentally questioned President Trump’s new protections from the I.R.S.” www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/b...

Republicans Let Trump Keep Unparalleled Benefit: I.R.S. Immunity

The rebellion against Todd Blanche’s nomination to be attorney general, now seemingly contained, at no point fundamentally questioned President Trump’s new protections from the I.R.S.

nytimes.com

Robert Simmon@rsimmon.bsky.social · 3d ago

Nighttime satellite imagery taken about 2 a.m. August 1st (left) & 2nd (right) over Spokane, Washington. The bright spots that appear on the 2nd are fires that ignited on the 1st. NOAA/NASA VIIRS Day/Night Band from Worldview go.nasa.gov/4wGuvy8 🛰️🖼️🌖

Grayscale nighttime satellite imagery showing the city lights of Spokane (center right) and a wildfire (upper left). The terrain is visible by moonlight.Grayscale nighttime satellite imagery showing the city lights of Spokane (center right). New wildfires have appeared to the northwest (upper left), including one or two adjacent tot he city. Smoke and terrain is visible by moonlight.
Robert Simmon@rsimmon.bsky.social · 5d ago

There’s (rightly) a lot of criticism of AI-modified satellite imagery going around today. But I haven’t heard much about the increasing prevalence of gen-AI satellite image sharpening. Which is possibly just as damaging, and definitely more insidious.

Rev. Poppy Haze 𓅋@poppyhaze.bsky.social · 6d ago

There are so many jihadist raiders on pickup trucks that towns in West Africa have begun building berms up to 3m high of sand and dirt. Burned out towns with half finished walls also litter the landscape. anl.geog.ufl.edu/fortified-la...

The resurgence of fortified landscapes in West Africa - African Networks Lab

West African states respond to insurgencies by building city walls and fortifying borders, balancing protection with rural vulnerabilities.

anl.geog.ufl.edu

Robert Simmon@rsimmon.bsky.social · 5d ago

This is a fantastic essay. Read it If you have any interest in satellite imagery. “Who to Trust, Google or the Russian MoD? In 2015, that was a rhetorical question. Not anymore.” By @henkvaness.bsky.social

Alison Killing@alisonkilling.bsky.social · 5d ago

This is wildly irresponsible of Google - allowing people to create AI generated satellite images. Satellite imagery has always been such a useful and reliable source because it came from reliable sources, but now Google is messing with it at source. www.digitaldigging.org/p/how-to-pla...

Robert Simmon@rsimmon.bsky.social · 6d ago

Y’know, the “silver alert” for a missing person — which I can’t do anything about — shouldn’t hit my phone with the same intensity as an earthquake (or fire, or landslide) warning.

Andrew Tyrrell@southarrowmaps.co.nz · 7d ago

How far can I get using AI in cartography? I drove Canada's Icefields Parkway last month, and want to make a poster map of it. Can AI help, and do it well? I started on my phone, then realised it needed more than that and moved to the desktop. AI-first: Claude, a bit of ChatGPT. A thread... 🧵🗺️

A zoomed-out view of the whole basemap, roughly 285 by 311 km of the Canadian Rockies in a painterly natural style. Snow-capped ranges and white glaciers run diagonally through dark green forested valleys, with turquoise lakes and rivers threading between them, opening onto flatter green-and-tan farmland in the north-east.
EUMETSAT@eumetsat.int · last wk.

What does one satellite look like from another's point of view? On 18 Jul we found out! MTG-S1 & Meteosat-12 share an orbital slot 36,000km up & sometimes cross paths. The IRS on MTG-S1 caught Meteosat-12 over Timbuktu, Mali. ⬇️ The image is low-res, but you see Meteosat-12's solar panels/antennas.

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