Next week, local artist Greg Joughin will create a large public art installation on Douglas beach which it is hoped will be photographed by the satellite.
There is a good chance that a high resolution imaging satellite will acquire images over the Island on Tuesday 5 June – most likely between 10am and 11am.
The public are also welcome to get involved with their own temporary art displays for a potential ‘space mob’ – a pre-arranged gathering of people carrying out activities to be seen from space.
Any creations for the space mob will need to be at least 10 metres by 10 metres to be seen properly in the satellite imagery.
Chair of the 2018 Year of Our Island Political Board, Chris Thomas MHK, said:
'What a great opportunity to take part in something a little bit different.
'We launched ‘2018 Year of Our Island’ with a Dark Skies Week which included a special lecture by Paulo Godinho of DigitalGlobe, Dr Helmut Kessler of Manx Precision Optics Ltd, and Dr Richard Arning of SES Satellite Leasing Ltd.
'I believe Mr Godinho and Dr Arning – both Island residents who are heavily involved in the space sector – find this an exciting initiative as I think they enjoy and value the Island’s quality of life and community spirit, which is what 2018 Year of Our Island has set out to highlight and celebrate.'
In other parts of the world, people have made temporary designs and words using blankets, straw bales, and even people.
As with any imagery captured by satellites there is always a risk that cloud cover could mean parts or even all of the Island are obscured from the satellite’s view.
Paulo Godinho said:
'Satellite imagery and the information derived from it has become ubiquitous in our everyday lives. This is a fascinating initiative to get people excited about space.'
The public are encouraged to share any ground-based photos of their space mob events on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to the @ourisland2018 account using the hashtags #spacemob and #spaceart.
It is hoped there will be an opportunity to stage another space mob on the Island in July.
