07 Apr An interactive catalog of Chris Hadfield’s photos of Earth

Last week, I posted a photo of Contrarian’s home turf that Chris Hadfield, 35th Commander of the International Space Station, had taken from 370 kilometres overhead. An avid photographer, Hadfield has produced scores of images depicting locations all over the earth, including at least 10 of Nova Scotia sites.*

You may already know what I managed to miss: that geographer David MacLean and his students at the College of Geographic Sciences in Lawrencetown, NS, have created a database of Hadfield’s images (and some by fellow astronaut Thomas H. Marshburn) that you can access through a wonderful, interactive map.

MacLean has been kind enough to let me embed the map here on Contrarian:

Zero in on your favorite part of the globe, then click any thumbnails that interest you to bring up a remarkably detailed image of the corresponding location. To play with MacLean’s larger version of the map, click here.

John Metcalfe has a nice piece in the Atlantic about MacLean’s efforts; the Chronicle-Herald, Ottawa Citizen, and Annapolis County Spectator have also run stories.

The dramatic growth of mapping, and the development of geographical tools accessible to everyday users, is one of the great technological stories of our time. Nova Scotia is incredibly fortunately to have, in the College of Geographical Sciences,** a stellar post-secondary institution devoted to this field.

H/T: Richard Stephenson.

*  Check out this view of the coastline from White Point through Dingwall, Money Point, Bay St. Lawrence, Meat Cove, Pollett’s Cove, Red River, Pleasant Bay, and Fishing Cove.

** Now officially called the Nova Scotia Community College Annapolis Valley Campus. Discerning readers will note that I am resisting this unfortunate change.