South Island of New Zealand. Chicago and Lake Michigan, Illinois. Space-shuttle photography is the result of systematic Earth and environmental science training given to each astronaut crew prior to flight. Much of the photography consists of revisits to targets previously photographed. Each day during flight, astronauts are given instructions for photographs based on cloud cover and orbital conditions.
Astronauts are also free to take photographs of any interesting or attractive scenes.
This provides for unique views under various lighting conditions that are not available with other remote sensing systems. Little-known tropical areas are well represented in the photography database. These regions are undergoing very rapid human-induced environmental transformations. Various cameras, lenses, and film types are employed for space-shuttle photography. Hasselblad cameras are most commonly used.