February 24, 2004 – Amazing views of Earth taken from satellites in space will be displayed when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) present Electronic Theater 2004 at the University of Utah. The high-definition television (HDTV) presentation on a large screen is scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday March 1 in the Marriott Library’s Gould Auditorium. There is no charge.

The show by NASA research meteorologist Fritz Hasler will include new images of last year’s Hurricane Isabel, the firestorms near Los Angeles and San Diego and the great blackout of August 2003 in the northeastern United States.

“Fly in from outer space directly to the University of Utah campus,” Hasler says in a description of one of the show’s zoom-in views of Earth. “Contrast the 1972 Apollo 17 ‘Blue Marble’ image of the Earth with the latest U.S. and international global satellite images that allow us to view our planet from any vantage point.”

The Electronic Theater includes views of Earth, its land, oceans and atmosphere from various satellites, including Terra, GOES, TRMM, SeaWiFS and Landsat 7.

“Take the pulse of the planet on a daily, annual and 30-year time scale,” Hasler says. “See daily thunderstorms, the annual blooming of the Northern Hemisphere land masses and oceans, fires in Africa, dust storms in Iraq, and carbon monoxide exhaust from global burning. … See the currents and vortexes in the oceans that bring up the nutrients to feed tiny plankton and draw the fish, whales and fishermen. See the how the ocean blooms in response to El Niño-La Niña climate changes.”

The Electronic Theater’s University of Utah engagement is sponsored by the university’s Marriott Library and Department of Meteorology, and by the Utah Science Center.