- NASA has released an enjoyable free tool for Earth Day
- It lets you spell your name using landscape features in satellite photos
- You can share your creations or download them and print them later
Sustainability Week 2026
This article is part of a series of sustainability-themed articles we’re running to observe Earth Day 2026 and promote more sustainable practices. Check out all of our Sustainability Week 2026 content.
You’ve heard of writing your name in the stars, but what about writing your name on Planet Earth? That’s what’s NASA’s latest tool is offering up, and it’s a fun way to celebrate Earth Day and demonstrates the variety of landscapes and features found on our blue planet.
Specifically, you’ll need to head over to NASA’s ‘Your Name in Landsat’ website and enter your name — or whatever word you want — into the box near the top of the page. Click the Enter button and you’ll see it spelled out, with each letter being represented by a letter hidden in a satellite photo.
For instance, try entering ‘TechRadar’ and you’ll get nine images lined up next to each other. The first could be a rocky formation that resembles the letter T, the second a swirling oceanic current that looks like an E, and so on.
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The result is an entertaining little digital toy that is an enjoyable way to brighten someone’s day. You can share a link to your creation or download it, ready to be sent over email or maybe printed out as a postcard.
And if you mouse over any of the images used to spell your chosen word, you’ll see the location it was sourced from, as well as its longitude and latitude. That enables you to check it out on a site like Google Maps if you want to see the landscape in more detail.
An enjoyable distraction
NASA’s latest plaything is designed to coincide with Earth Day, which landed on April 22 this year. The event, which has been running since 1970, is dedicated to supporting environmental protection efforts around the world — you can read our series of articles celebrating it during Sustainability Week 2026.
It therefore makes sense for NASA to time its Your Name in Landsat tool to line up with this annual event. Its images show the vast variety of environments found across the globe and might help to inspire a touch of activism in those who use it.
According to NASA, “The satellite images used in this interactive [tool] are part of Landsat’s extensive record, spanning more than 50 years.” They were sourced from NASA Earth Observatory, NASA Worldview, USGS EarthExplorer, and ESA Sentinel Hub, and you can download them individually if you like. Landsat is the longest-running satellite imagery program in the world and has been going strong since 1972.
Unfortunately, the downloaded images are not particularly large, so aren’t ideal for using as a poster or similarly-sized object. But they’re still a good way to explore the world and have a little fun while doing it.
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alexblake.techradar@gmail.com (Alex Blake)
