CS: Extreme Sampling

The generic story that goes into using compressive sensing is generally that it can provide sampling at a lower cost and lower complexity. While reading the news this week, I have been made aware of several extreme sampling and I am wondering how compressive sensing could or could have helped in these endeavors. The fascinating part is how extreme these sampling exercise were. Sometimes, the main constraints are:

• Money
• Citizen balloon mapping the Gulf oil spill ( we did a similar survey and set a world record of photographing 150km in New Mexico). More here.
  
• Build a high resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) in your backyard for under $240
• Deepwater spill and Catastrophic fires:
• Sampling water columns under a night sky lit up by a large jet of burning methane
• Outer space
  
• The broken Hayabusa: a sample returns home (via Emily)
• The IKAROS separation camera designed only for a few pictures. (IKAROS is a solar sail drifting in space using photons to move)
  
• In microgravity under a catastrophic power failure: Finding the moment of inertia of Mir after it's been hit by a Progress.
• Location: the Eyeborg camera. (Thanks Olivier).
  

Do you have any other example of extreme sampling ? I'd like to hear about them.

Credit photo: JAXA.