Paris,the capital city of France,seen from space by the Ikonos satellite. North is at top. The Eiffel Tower (Tour Eiffel,upper left) is next to the River Seine. The Chaillot Palace (Palais de Chaillot) lies over the river to the north-west of a formal garden. The domed Invalides,a military hospital founded by King Louis XIV that is now a museum and monument,is at upper right to the south of another formal garden. Launched in 1999,Ikonos was the first commercial satellite to collect data at one-metre resolution. The satellite,which orbits at an altitude of 681 kilometres,is owned by Space Imaging,Colorado,USA. Image size: 3x3km |