Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
If you've ever taken a photography class, you may have heard that cameras don't work the way our eyes do. Turns out, modern satellites don't work the way cameras do. Imagers and sensors take in terabytes (a lot!) of data in a form humans struggle to make sense of.
That's where the Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS) comes in. This team of scientific programmers turns data into imagery we can make sense of, allowing us to see what satellites "see" and enhancing how researchers understand their data. Greg Shirah has been with the SVS for more than 20 years, helping develop techniques and furthering technology that makes data visualization better.
Music: "Computer Spring," "Sun Age," "Streets at Night," Universal Production Music
Ryan Fitzgibbons (eMITS/AMA): Producer, Editor
Gregory Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Visualizer, Interviewee, Project Support
Video description:
0:00 Vintage style graphic reads Goddard Space Flight Center presents Spaceback: Computer Graphics
0:01 Black & white group picture zooms in on Greg Shirah.
0:04 Current day Greg interviewed with computer graphics above & below.
0:07 Vintage computer global map.
0:10 Dated computer code.
0:12 Stacked images of an old graphic of a space shuttle & vintage footage of someone at a computer. An arrow labeled Mission Monitor Interface points to the screen.
0:15 Vintage footage of Greg walking into a room stacked above a dated graphic that reads "NASA Goddard" then "Scientific Visualization Studio."
0:18 Footage of Greg working on the computer.
0:22 Greg interview.
0:25 Vintage computer racks.
0:28 Vintage footage of someone in a VR headset with data visualization on a screen.
0:31 Another person in a vintage VR headset.
0:33 3D render of data with a hand.
0:35 Panning across a posed picture in a VR set.
0:38 Vintage footage of a scientist interviewed in front of a data visualization with the year 1997.
0:40 Montage around the interview room, with multiple TV monitors and media crew.
1:00 Greg interview.
1:03 Vintage data visualization.
1:04 Modern data visualization labeled "Ocean Currents and Temperature."
1:05 Stacked images of a modern computer screen & a visualizer working at a computer monitor.
1:07 Modern data visualization labeled "Carbon Dioxide."
1:09 Greg interview.
1:13 People looking at big screens in a conference room.
1:24 Zoom out from data visualization to a collage of multiple visualizations and pictures of visualizers.
If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: youtube.com/NASAGoddard
Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
· Instagram: instagram.com/nasagoddard
· X: x.com/NASAGoddard
· Facebook: facebook.com/NASAGoddard
· Flickr: flickr.com/photos/gsfc
If you've ever taken a photography class, you may have heard that cameras don't work the way our eyes do. Turns out, modern satellites don't work the way cameras do. Imagers and sensors take in terabytes (a lot!) of data in a form humans struggle to make sense of.
That's where the Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS) comes in. This team of scientific programmers turns data into imagery we can make sense of, allowing us to see what satellites "see" and enhancing how researchers understand their data. Greg Shirah has been with the SVS for more than 20 years, helping develop techniques and furthering technology that makes data visualization better.
Music: "Computer Spring," "Sun Age," "Streets at Night," Universal Production Music
Ryan Fitzgibbons (eMITS/AMA): Producer, Editor
Gregory Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Visualizer, Interviewee, Project Support
Video description:
0:00 Vintage style graphic reads Goddard Space Flight Center presents Spaceback: Computer Graphics
0:01 Black & white group picture zooms in on Greg Shirah.
0:04 Current day Greg interviewed with computer graphics above & below.
0:07 Vintage computer global map.
0:10 Dated computer code.
0:12 Stacked images of an old graphic of a space shuttle & vintage footage of someone at a computer. An arrow labeled Mission Monitor Interface points to the screen.
0:15 Vintage footage of Greg walking into a room stacked above a dated graphic that reads "NASA Goddard" then "Scientific Visualization Studio."
0:18 Footage of Greg working on the computer.
0:22 Greg interview.
0:25 Vintage computer racks.
0:28 Vintage footage of someone in a VR headset with data visualization on a screen.
0:31 Another person in a vintage VR headset.
0:33 3D render of data with a hand.
0:35 Panning across a posed picture in a VR set.
0:38 Vintage footage of a scientist interviewed in front of a data visualization with the year 1997.
0:40 Montage around the interview room, with multiple TV monitors and media crew.
1:00 Greg interview.
1:03 Vintage data visualization.
1:04 Modern data visualization labeled "Ocean Currents and Temperature."
1:05 Stacked images of a modern computer screen & a visualizer working at a computer monitor.
1:07 Modern data visualization labeled "Carbon Dioxide."
1:09 Greg interview.
1:13 People looking at big screens in a conference room.
1:24 Zoom out from data visualization to a collage of multiple visualizations and pictures of visualizers.
If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: youtube.com/NASAGoddard
Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
· Instagram: instagram.com/nasagoddard
· X: x.com/NASAGoddard
· Facebook: facebook.com/NASAGoddard
· Flickr: flickr.com/photos/gsfc
