Satellites are a Great Cartographic Endeavor because they revolutionized the way we understand Earth and space. Satellites created a new way to acquire data about Earth and space and changed the way we think about the possibilities technology can bring us. Satellites have given us the opportunity to look at the Earth as a whole and truly prove wrong the ridiculous flat earth theory! Before satellites no one had seen or taken pictures of earth from space. Satellites have given us the ability to vastly expand our knowledge of almost everything. Without satellites most of the data we have today would not exist and acquiring the data on land would be much more difficult and potentially less accurate. 

I choose artificial satellites because I see satellites as something that is greatly underrated and overlooked when in reality we rely heavily on satellites in our day to day activities. I believe there to only be a very basic knowledge of satellites by the general public so I wanted to bring to light the importance of satellites and go into more detail of how exactly they work. Because the presentation was done with a geography oriented audience I wanted to incorporate the significance of satellites and what they have done versus the generic information about how they operate such as geostationary satellite vs. a polar orbiting satellite. I included information that was more relevant to the implementation of satellite data and the responsibility of launching satellites. 

In my presentation I included highlights of the history of satellites starting from the first concepts of them by Issac Newton in 1687 to the first launched satellite in 1957 to the incredible feats accomplished by Space X. I incorporated the different types of satellites and their uses such as astronomical satellites used to observe distant space or communication satellites used for sending messages and signals. I also included agricultural crop monitoring as a direct application of satellites to show how satellite data is utilized by many different groups of people that have different intentions in the agricultural industry. Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall was a pioneer in the environmental movement and directly influenced the use of satellites for environmental efforts so I wanted to emphasize his contribution to satellite implementation. One of the main components I wanted to communicate in my presentation is the importance of graveyard orbits and the responsibility that comes with launching objects into space. Overall I strived to bring a new perspective on satellites and communicate information that might have not yet been known by the audience.