On May 1963, astronaut L. Gordon Cooper, Jr. took 29 color photographs from the Faith 7 spacecraft during the Mercury-Atlas 9 mission, orbiting 100 miles above Earth. He reported seeing vehicles on dirt roads, smoke‑emitting trains, and the tops of houses. Vision experts questioned whether astronauts with 20‑20 vision could resolve objects smaller than about 150 feet from that altitude. Cooper said he had 20/12 vision, but doubts persisted. Other Mercury astronauts also claimed detailed views of Earth’s surface. Mental health professionals raised concerns that weightlessness might cause hallucinations, a view noted in Air Force and Space Digest. Visual‑acuity experts designed two experiments for the Gemini V and Gemini VII missions. One used a binocular‑type device in which subjects identified the orientation of rectangles of varying contrast. The other placed large white rectangles, 150 to 600 feet long, on the ground at Laredo, Texas and Carnarvon, Australia, and asked astronauts to determine orientation from orbit. The charts were called “Eye‑Q” charts. Cloud cover, glare from the spacecraft window, and orbital angles sometimes limited visibility, but during several revolutions astronauts observed portions of the Laredo site. Combined results showed that astronauts could see roads and ships, and that vision remained stable during a two‑week flight. The findings contributed to NASA’s push for dedicated Earth‑observing instruments. NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Office of Naval Research, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture said that orbital images could support crop inventories, geological mapping, natural‑disaster monitoring, and ocean research. The need for such capability led to the Earth Resources Technology Satellite, later named Landsat 1, launched in 1972. Its camera and multispectral scanner provided data used together with aircraft observations to track oceans, farmland, disaster sites, and more. NASA has continued Earth observation from orbit, aircraft, and ground for six decades.