- NASA has released a fun free tool for Earth Day
- It allows you to spell your name using landscape features in satellite photos.
- You can share your creations or download and print them later
Sustainability Week 2026
This article is part of a series of sustainability-themed articles we are publishing to commemorate Earth Day 2026 and promote more sustainable practices. Check out all our Sustainability Week 2026 content.
You’ve heard of writing your name on the stars, but what about writing your name on Planet Earth? That’s what NASA’s latest tool offers, 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 go to NASA’s ‘Your Name on Landsat’ website and enter your name, or any word you want, in the box near the top of the page. Click the Enter button and you’ll see it written out, with each letter represented by a letter hidden in a satellite photo.
For example, try entering “TechRadar” and you’ll get nine images lined up side by side. The first could be a rock formation that resembles the letter T, the second a swirling ocean current that looks like an E, and so on.
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The result is an entertaining little digital toy that is a fun way to brighten someone’s day. You can share a link to your creation or download it, ready to email or perhaps print as a postcard.
And if you mouse over any of the images used to spell your chosen word, you’ll see the location it came from, as well as its longitude and latitude. That allows you to check it out on a site like Google Maps if you want to see the landscape in more detail.
A pleasant distraction
NASA’s latest toy is designed to coincide with Earth Day, which landed on April 22 this year. The event, which has been held 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.
So it makes sense for NASA to schedule its Your Name on Landsat tool to align with this annual event. Their images show the wide variety of environments found around the world and could help inspire a touch of activism in those who use them.
According to NASA, “The satellite images used in this interactive [tool] They are part of Landsat’s extensive history, 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 wish. Landsat is the longest-running satellite imaging program in the world and has been going strong since 1972.
Unfortunately, the downloaded images are not particularly large, so they are not ideal for use 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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