FORMOSAT-2'S EFFECTIVENESS TO TAIWAN'S PUBLIC EDUCATION

Public education is undoubtedly a very important aspect for a country to develop space program. People have the rights to understand how the tax they paid is being used. This paper addresses the effectiveness of FORMOSAT-2 on public education in Taiwan. As the first remote sensing satellite of the National Space Organization (NSPO) of Taiwan, FORMOSAT-2 is a small satellite of 746 kg mass for two remote sensing missions: Earth and upward lightning observations. The mission orbit is sun-synchronous of 888 km altitude for exactly 14 revolutions per day. For earth observation, the payload is an advanced high resolution remote sensing instrument (RSI) with ground sampling distance (GSD) 2 m in panchromatic (PAN) band and 8 m in four multi-spectral (MS) bands. For upward lightning observation, the payload is an imager of sprites and upper atmospheric lightning (ISUAL). After more than two years of Earth observation started in June 2004, the effectiveness of FORMOSAT-2 images on public education in Taiwan is very promised. Five domestic universities and one private company in Taiwan have signed contracts respectively with NSPO to take the roles of satellite image investigator and distributor. A private company has signed contract with NSPO to generate and provide URMAP (= your map) in its website for general public applications by using FORMOSAT-2 images. The Newtonkids Book Company used FORMOSAT-2 images to publish a kind of calendar for children education purpose. Besides, a science team in National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) is doing the research work on the 3820 (up to 30 June 2006) transient luminous events (TLEs) observed by FORMOSAT-2.