NASA Celebrates 15 Years of Mesmerizing Space GIFs

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On December 18, 1999, NASA launched the Terra satellite, the first flagship spacecraft of the Earth Observing System (EOS). The EOS fleet has now expanded to include 18 other satellites, which collectively form a sophisticated network for monitoring our planet's evolving dynamics.

"The past 15 years have produced a more comprehensive look at Earth from space than any other period in history," NASA wrote in a press release celebrating the milestone. "At a time when our planet is undergoing critically important changes, this global view offers not only stunning imagery but also vitally important information about how Earth is changing."

The release also spotlighted a number of particularly striking images collected by EOS satellites, kicking off with the iconic "Blue Marble" picture taken in 2002.

But the ESO wasn't designed just to take glamor shots of Earth (though it has banked up a lot of impressive ones). The network's primary mission is to capture the planet's ever-changing systems over a long time period—and that is a great excuse to use gifs. Take, for example, the entrancing animation at the top of the post of the vegetation cycle over the course of a year, based on data collected by the MODIS instruments on the Terra and Aqua satellites.

The MODIS instrument also recorded the dramatic collapse and rebirth of a massive Antarctic ice shelf in 2002.

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In addition to providing close-ups of these processes, the ESO monitored the worrying depletion of polar ice caps on a macro scale. The AMSR-E instrument on the Aqua satellite monitored the behavior of Arctic sea ice over the last decade, confirming that the cap is receding as a result of climate change. This animation represents AMSR-E data collected between September 4, 2009 and January 30, 2011.

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Over on the other end of the temperature spectrum, the Terra and Aqua satellites have observed over 40 million active fires over the last 15 years using their MODIS instruments. The two spacecraft are constantly updating a satellite map of every active fire on the planet. The gif below documents African fires over the course of a year.

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Another major goal for the EOS is to observe the carbon dioxide cycle throughout the seasons. The AIRS instrument on Aqua captures this yearly interplay between vegetation and carbon dioxide gas, and tracks long-term trends in greenhouse gas pollution. This animation of the cycle shows how the gas spreads to the Northern Hemisphere in winter and spring, and is then processed by photosynthetic life over the summer. It looks like the planet itself is inhaling and exhaling the gas.

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Last but not least, one of the newer members of the ESO fleet, the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite, imaged the patterns of holiday lights across the planet. The result is a beautiful, space-down glimpse of our festive handiwork, with a side helping of data about urban development to boot.

Holiday lights from space. Image: NASA Goddard/YouTube

This network of satellites has accomplished a lot in the last 15 years, and given Earth's tenuous state right now, it's shaping up to be just as important in the future. At the very least, it will give us a lot more neat space gifs to browse through.​