Rumbling metal. Breathtaking velocity. Deafening excitement. These are just a few things that rocket launches and roller coasters have in common. But the worlds of amusement parks and spaceflight can overlap in other surprising ways.
Established as a modest beach area in 1870, Cedar Point is situated on the shores of Lake Erie in Sandusky, Ohio. Today it is better known as an amusement park home to more than 60 rides and attractions. Several of these rides are roller coasters that have established or currently hold records for speed or height. Whether for chasing thrills or strolling the midway with a funnel cake in hand, more than three million people visit Cedar Point each year.
At a height of 420 ft, the view from atop Top Thrill 2, the park’s tallest roller coaster, promises to be unnerving. But it offers only a fraction of the vantage point shown in recent imagery from Umbra Space. Launched into space by the SpaceX Transporter-7 mission, an Umbra satellite (Umbra-06) is now in orbit at an altitude of about 550 kilometers (342 miles). Equipped with synthetic aperture radar (SAR), the satellite acquired the image below in January of 2024.
SAR instruments emit radar waves and then measure the signal that bounces back to the sensor. Acquisitions from a small antenna combine to mimic a much larger antenna. This enables SAR imagery to achieve high spatial resolution. (The original data for this scene has a resolution of 50 cm per pixel.) It is a clever and sophisticated process. And the results speak for themselves.
Another advantage of SAR is that the data can be collected over a period of time, adjusting the satellite’s view as it orbits a target. Umbra captured this imagery over a duration of 39 seconds. The orientation, height, and movement of features on the ground influences the signal returned as the viewing angle changes. Umbra used red, green, and blue to show when, during the 39-second collection, each pixel returned its brightest signal. This type of processing produces colorized sub-aperture imagery (CSI). CSI can help demystify the complexity of SAR imagery while providing valuable data to analysts.
Cedar Point was closed for the season when this image was acquired. But this view highlights an incredible confluence of science and engineering. From roller coasters on the ground to satellites in space and the rockets that get them there, technology continues to bring joy, insights, and new discoveries to our lives.
More to Explore
- Watch this video to learn more about SAR imagery and how it works.
- Follow Umbra Space to see updates and other images they collect.
- Learn how scientists use SAR to measure sea level rise and the movement of land.
