Author Summary: We discuss early hyperspectral research and development activities during the 1990s that led to the deployment of aircraft and satellite payloads whose heritage was based on the use of visible, spatially modulated, imaging Fourier transform spectrometers, beginning with early experiments at the Florida Institute of Technology, through successful launch and deployment of the Visible Fourier Transform Hyperspectral Imager on MightySat II.1 on 19 July 2000. In addition to a brief chronological overview, we also discuss several of the most interesting optical engineering challenges that were addressed over this timeframe, present some as-yet un-exploited features of field-widened (slit-less) SMIFTS instruments, and present some images from ground-based, aircraft-based and satellite-based instruments that helped provide the impetus for the proliferation and development of entire new families of instruments and countless new applications for hyperspectral imaging.
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