Would you like to see a bird's-eye view of the “Palm Islands”- the manmade islands built with over 92 million square meters of sands and stones? Or maybe you want to see the main stadium of World Games 2009 in Kaohsiung from 890km in space? From May 26th, the National Museum of Science & Technology teams up with the National Space Program Office to host the Formosa 2- Exhibition of Sky Images Sent by the Formsa-2 Satellite, which will bring you a whole new experience; just follow the sky images, they will show you a view of the world from a very different angle.
The National Space Program Office was founded in October 1991 by the Executive Yuan, aiming to lay a foundation for the nation's development of space technologies, as well as the resources for the future competitions in the space market and application industries. The National Space Program Office is in charge of implementing the Nation's satellite programs, promoting academic and industrial development, upgrading the Nation's development capacities in space technologies, and facilitating the development of added value.
The Formosa-2 Satellite is the first exclusive satellite of the nation; the program was planned and implemented by the National Space Program Office. Its mission is to fulfill the needs of the users in the Nation and is currently used for land survey, agriculture and forest planning, environmental surveillance, disaster assessment, scientific research, and education. The Formosa-2 Satellite's special “daily revisit” function is a pioneer design in the global industry and, since its launch in May 21st 2004, it has not only sent back numerous valuable images, but also supplied image services and data during global disasters at the very first instance. Indeed, it plays a significant role in Taiwan's actions for humanitarian aid.
To showcase the achievement of the Formosa-2 Satellite, the National Space Program Office teams up with the National Museum of Science & Technology to bring you the Formosa 2- Exhibition of Sky Images Sent by the Formsa-2 Satellite, which will be opened for three months from May 26th 2009 at the Exhibition Hall of National Museum of Science & Technology. This exhibition features three main themes:
1.Achievements Through the Years
Since its launch in 2004, the Formosa-2 Satellite has executed remote missions to photograph over a million of photos globally. This exhibition features selected photos that are representative to significant events over the years with brief descriptions of the photos and events. Events, including the first image sent by Formosa-2 Satellite, the Dongsa Atoll, South Asia Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and Sichuan Earthquake, are specially featured in this exhibition.
2.Sights and Sounds of Kaohsiung
This section features the history of Kaohsiung, starting from ancient maps of Kaohsiung and leading th audiences through the development of Kaohsiung City. A giant satellite image of the Kaohsiung and Pingtung area will be the center piece of this section, which marks the main destinations in today's Kaohsiung Metropolitan area.
This section features the World Games 2009 in Kaohsiung, showcasing the satellite images of the different competition fields and documented the development of the main stadium, including images from a piece of land to the grand opening.
3.The National Space Program
This section features texts and graphics illustrating the satellite programs of the National Space Program Office; several multimedia video clips are also available to introduce the development and achievements of the Formosa-2 Satellite.
The launch vehicle and satellite model of the Formosa-2 Satellite will also be exhibited onsite, bringing the audiences up-close contact with the Nation's first satellite in the space.
The Formosa-2 Satellite is designed to have 5 years of service life; by May 21st, Formosa-2 turns five years old. Over the five years, staffs at the National Space Program Office continued to seek technology breakthroughs, especially in global disaster, environmental, and atmosphere/lightening strike surveillance; their efforts are to be remembered in history. Under the care of the satellite team, Formosa-2 is now functioning in optimum condition and will continue to bring the Nation endless data and serve as a good guardian for the world.