[suzzer99]

Here's a question I have that maybe one of the random experts we have on HN can answer:

In Castaway, Tom Hanks estimates that for the searchers to find him, they'd have to be searching an area the size of Texas. I think later Helen Hunt says he was even farther out of their search zone than he thought.

But let's just say it's the size of Texas or even twice the size of Texas. Are there so many tiny islands in that part of the Pacific that you can't just do a quick fly-by of all of them to see if someone has written HELP on the beach?

Are there islands that size that we're on any maps in 2000? Seems unlikely with satellite imagery.

[jandrewrogers]

Parts of the Pacific are littered with uninhabited atolls. Even a few decades ago, it was plausible to find yourself on one unlikely to be visited for many years.

An issue with satellite imagery is that it is focused on areas where people want to take pictures. Vast regions of the Pacific rarely if ever have satellite photographs taken at sufficient resolution to see anything a castaway does for the simple reason that nothing is there that would incentivize anyone to expend the cost of taking a picture. I used to have a global model of satellite imagery coverage based on actual imagery catalogs and much of the Pacific was barren.