Maps in the Wild

Spotted in Chinatown, NYC.

Using Satellites for SpyingGRAB (Galactic Radiation and Background) Satellite GroundStation Contact Map, 1960 GRAB was the first electronic spy satellite; it picked up radio communications from Cold War adversaries. Ground operators used this map to tell when the satellite was overhead. That’s when they could download intercepted intelligence. This is […]

Picturing Earth from SpaceBefore the Space Age, people could only imagine what Earth looked like. Artists tried their best, and in time, new technologies started to piece together a more accurate picture. High-altitude rockets, satellites, and human space missions gave us increasingly dramatic views.In 1950, Scientific American had to rely […]

Another one from the Air and Space Museum. Using the Moon as a Communications Satellite The U.S. Navy’s Operation Moon Bounce beamed radio signals to the Moon that bounced back to another location on Earth. This system made it easier for the military to send long-distance messages during the Cold […]

Saw these in the Air and Space Museum, can’t quite remember the story behind them but I think it is to do with satellite communications for internet (somebody correct me please). Regardless, this is a massive globe with lights and lines and I thought it was cool.

At the Brooklyn Library they had an area where there was a rotating display of artwork from and about the city, I particularly liked this map of the Brooklyn neighbourhoods. “A Map of Brooklyn: a nostalglarama by Richard Rosenblum”

I spotted these ceramic coasters at the Brooklyn Library, now I’m home I wish I had bought them.

The Women’s Air Derby was the first official women-only air race in the United States. Humorist Will Rogers referred to it as the Powder Puff Derby, the name by which the race is most commonly known.

Another Pan Am poster, those guys had style.

There is something exquisite and nostalgic about this old Pan Am logo

There are a few coming up from the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, this place was heaven for map loving air and space nerds like me. This poster dates from the late 1940’s, pretty is an understatement.

This was also in the display at the National Museum of the American Indian in NYC.“Over generations, Native Americans harnessed the potential of natural grasses, trees, bushes, and even cactus to breed edible crops. Today four of the top ten crops that feed the world originally came from Native American […]

Saw this at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York, it illustrates some of the inventions that we take for granted nowadays which originated in America before colonisation. “Native people of the Americas changed the world with their scientific discoveries and inventions. Today their innovations continue to […]

Elizabeth spotted this collection of maps for sale in Covent Garden recently, lots of interesting old maps.

Doug Greenfield shared this “Support your local growers #MapsintheWild Topsfield Fair, northeastern Massachusetts”