Static, low-res satellite imagery is so passé. Watching HD video from space satellites is the future, especially when looking down on the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.
We’ve seen how footage like this makes the world look like a video game, or a Micro Machines playset! It’s sped up of course, but the aeroplane flying across the landscape is almost weird enough to look fake. Luckily, a commenter on the Vimeo page points out some of what is going on with the plane’s trajectory. It has to do with the motion of the satellite. If you focus on the tip of the building, the plane’s path makes more sense.
The clip was posted by Skybox Imaging, a company providing satellite HD video of any point on earth. It’s not available freely like Google Maps, but clips like this are cool enough to make you wish it were. Maybe one day! [The Atlantic]