PAGEOS Satellite (1966)

PAGEOS had a diameter of exactly 100 feet (30.48 m), consisted of a 0.5 mils (12.7 μm) thick mylar plastic film coated with vapour deposited aluminum enclosing a volume of about 524,000 cubic feet (14,800 m3)[8][9] The metal coating both reflected sunlight and protected the satellite from damaging ultraviolet waves. The satellite was launched in a canister, which explosively separated as it was ejected from the rocket. Then, the balloon was inflated through a combination of residual internal air and a mixture of benzoic acid and anthraquinone placed inside, which turned to gas when the satellite was exposed to the heat of the sun.[9] It was the first satellite specifically launched for use in geodetic surveying,[3] or measuring the shape of the earth, by serving as a reflective and photographic tracking target. At the time, it improved on terrestrial triangulations of the globe by about an order of magnitude.[4] The satellite, which carried no instrumentation, broke up between 1975 and 1976.

Wikipedia

This was super interesting to read about. I thought the picture surely had to be CG or AI created at first.

Over five years, 16 groups conducted observations at 45 globally distributed stations, about 3000-4000 km apart from each other.[4][7][12] 12 mobile tracking stations were used, which observed during favorable weather conditions during a few minutes of twilight each evening.[7][why?][clarification needed] BC4 cameras were used to photograph the satellite.[12] Observations were taken when the satellite was visible simultaneously to multiple stations at the same time.[12] This resulted in the fixing of the precise locations of 38 different points around the world.[4] This could be used to help determine the precise locations of the continents relative to each other, and to help determine the precise shape and size of the earth.
that is amazing! so cool
- And it sounds like it was usable for 9 years. That's impressive for a very thin balloon surrounded by 50,000mph dust particles
- That'd actually very similar to how trig points work! It's a giant orbiting trig point. Someone call the ordnance survey!
I thought the picture surely had to be CG or AI created at first.
Same... This photo is so surreal, I immediately thought of Simon Stalenhag.
Remember this experience when someone "knows" something is AI because It's "obvious", and don't call me Shirley!
Big boyo.
Not a smart boyo tho.
At first I was like, what AI is this… Oho. Very cool!
Interesting. I wonder if the canister could fit in a modern microsat. Might be possible to recreate it for (relatively) cheap.

For those wondering: it was inflatable. So it didn't weigh very much and wasn't very big at launch. It then inflated to this huge size shown here.

Just like in that movie, Sphere, with Dustin Hoffman.

I read the book! Michael Crichton. Same guy who wrote Jurassic park
- I really like the book - I think it's one of his best. Subtle 'unreliable narrator' mind-fuck from beginning to end, nicely written and characterised. The film of it is an abomination, though.
You know its reflective surface? Well, uh...
I hate to be the one non-scientist that picks this up, guys....
...What worries me is that it's reflecting everything but us.
- i noticed that in the OP too and it confused me a bit. then i noticed the dark corner bottom left, which is probably a bit of the wall of the dark room the picture was taken out of. that's why the photographer isn't in the reflection.
- Could be a tilt shift lens which can distort perspective and make a photo look as if it's being taken from a slightly different angle. Not sure what to look for to disprove that hypothesis though.
2hrs 14m

This looks like such a non-human design that I would have mistaken it for a UFO if I found it in space.

You may want to sit down, because I'm about to rock your world.
- Aliens!
  I want to believe!

"Have you tried everything?"

"Everything, sir, it's completely impregnable."

"We must get inside. For all we know, something may be living or perhaps even dying inside this"

"It appears to be seamless--no way in, no way out."

Getting Flight of the Navigator vibes.

I don't know what it is about the 1960s but I love the vibe of the technology. planes, cars, spaceships tended to have that chrome/bare metal look. i love it

We made better materials to reflect the sun stuff at some point. The chrome does look dank AF though

Flight of the Navigator vibes

I don't leak navigator, you leak.

Haha whoa that looks so sick! It's huge!!!

Apparently it was up there for around a decade before breaking up, with one of the largest fragments finally "deorbiting" in 2016.

I'm glad someone commented this cause Dune 2 was the first thing that popped to my mind

That’s no moon…

Almost looks like the Sphere in that movie Sphere.
- Or the giant ball bearing in Ball Bearing.

But where’s the giant hand holding it and the bearded Dutchman?

As an origami fan I would be very interested to see how they managed to fold this thing up.

Where's the photographer in the reflection?

If my understanding of physics is correct, they'd have to be slap bang in the centre of the reflected image (assuming a perfect sphere), so somewhere on the framework of the corner of the building.
I think standing near the red things in the middle of the reflection. Look at the size of the forklift in the reflection for reference.
The center line of lights in the reflection is higher than the location on the wall, which leads me to believe that the photographer is just above vertical center. * Due to the nature of photographing a sphere horizontally they would have to be exactly centered.
I think they're somewhere around here
i noticed that in the OP too and it confused me a bit. then i noticed the dark corner bottom left, which is probably a bit of the wall of the dark room the picture was taken out of. that's why the photographer isn't in the reflection.
Naked, I know that much.

Without context my first thought was a still from a movie about capturing a UFO

Reminds me of the tear drop scouts in the 3 body problem series

This looks like an HDRI sphere render. :D

I haven't watched Phantasm in a while

That's my secret, Cap. I'm always aliens.

Photographer is hiding in plain sight. Really. I have no idea how they did this.

I think they're on the end of the catwalk right above the small building in the corner, which would make sense since they'd have to appear in the middle of the sphere unless the image is cropped. Hard to be sure with this resolution, but I'd bet those few lighter pixels are the person holding the camera.

That’s a giant Christmas globe my guy