Page 217 - DK Children's Encyclopedia
P. 217

Satellites                                                                        SEE ALSO

                                                                                               ▸ ▸ Astronomy  p.32
                                                                                               ▸ ▸ Clouds  p.64
           Satellites are objects that go around, or orbit, something                          ▸ ▸ Communication
           bigger. There are more than 2,000 artificial satellites                              p.69
           orbiting the Earth. They are used for a variety of different                        ▸ ▸ Internet  p.138

           jobs. Some track the weather while others let us                                    ▸ ▸ Solar system
           communicate with each other.                                                         p.23s
                                                                                               ▸ ▸ Universe  p.263


             GPS satellite
             The global positioning system (GPS)
             gives us our exact position on the
             Earth. The system uses more than
             20 satellites, working together
             to pinpoint your location.















                                                                        Local satellites
                                                                        Some types of satellite
                                                                        stay over the same area
                                                                        as they orbit the Earth.
                                                                        These are called
                                                                        geostationary satellites.
                                                                        To cover the whole
                                                                        Earth, many satellites    This satellite always
                                                                        are needed.           stays over this area.






                                                                                                            When this
                                                                                                            flap is open,
                                                                       Photos of                            the telescope
                                                                       the Earth                            takes photos.
       Solar panels                                                    are sent to
       collect the sun’s                                               weather
       rays to power                                                   stations.
       the satellite.


       Communication satellite              Weather satellite                     Hubble space telescope
       These satellites pick up signals and   These satellites take pictures of the   This satellite points away from the
       send them to other places in the world.   clouds and measure land and sea   Earth and takes detailed images of the
       They are used for phone calls and live   temperatures. This information helps   universe.  It lets us see farther into
       video communications.                us to study and forecast the weather.  space than we could from the Earth.

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