See You Next Orbit
Orbiting 512 miles above the Earth, NASA's Suomi NPP environmental satellite crosses the equator at the same local time during every pass. Each 1,900-mile observing swath overlaps the next one, allowing the satellite to produce global maps like this one, from the Visible Infrared Image Radiometer Suite, or VIIRS instrument. The sun-synchronous orbit keeps the angle of illumination identical from day to day and year to year. Here's a larger version.
NASA NPP Land Product Evaluation and Testing Element
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