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Page, Arizona
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Published March 23, 2003
This isolated community near the northern Arizona border is of special interest because of its origin and location. Unlike other towns in the area, Page was created in 1957 to house workers and their families during the construction of nearby Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River. Its 17-square-mile site was obtained in a land exchange with the Navajo Indian tribe. The town is perched atop Manson Mesa at an elevation of 4,300 feet above sea level and 600 feet above Lake Powell.
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Buenos Aires at Night
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Published March 16, 2003
Buenos Aires is one of the larger cities seen by orbiting crews. Twelve million people, almost one third of all Argentines, live in this city, often called the “Paris of the South”.
Southern Sierra Nevada and Owens Lake
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Published March 9, 2003
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station looked obliquely down at the steep eastern flank of California’s Sierra Nevada. Even from space the topography is impressive. The range drops nearly 11,000 feet from Mt. Whitney (under cloud, arrow), the highest mountain in the lower 48 states (14,494 ft), to the floor of Owens Valley (the elevation of the town of Lone Pine is 3,760 ft). The Sierra Nevada landscape is well known for deep, glacially scoured valleys, like Kern Canyon west of Mt. Whitney.
Australian Bushfires
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Published February 9, 2003
The crew of the International Space Station took this dramatic image of the fires on the morning of January 18, 2003. Brisk winds are sweeping smoke plumes eastward off the Australian coast north of Cape Howe.
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Crater Lake, Oregon
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Published January 26, 2003
Crater Lake, a volcanic caldera in South Central Oregon’s Cascade Mountains, boasts breathtaking scenery, created about 7,700 years ago with the volcanic eruption and subsequent collapse of the summit of Mt. Mazama.
Baltimore with a Dusting of Snow
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Published January 19, 2003
While traveling to the International Space Station aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor, astronauts photographed the northeastern United States blanketed in fresh snow. This image, taken in early December 2002, shows the city of Baltimore and the surrounding area. An inset shows the center of the city (rotated so north points up).
Kharg Island, Iran
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Published January 12, 2003
Kharg Island is Iran’s primary oil export terminal in the Persian Gulf. This rocky limestone island is unique because it is one of the few islands in the Persian Gulf with freshwater which has collected within the porous limestone. In addition to its commercial and strategic importance, the freshwater has biological importance, supporting populations of gazelles. This high-resolution photograph taken by astronauts on board the International Space Station shows detail of the tanker dock facilities, tanks and other infrastructure. Sunglint on the surface of the water highlights small amounts of oil on the sea surface and reveals the direction of the local currents.
Old Havana, Cuba
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Published January 5, 2003
he red tile roofs and historic buildings of Cuba’s Old Havana appear distinctly in this high-resolution photograph taken by astronauts on board the International Space Station.
Plankton Blooms, Capricorn Channel
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Published December 29, 2002
This image captures a plankton bloom in the Capricorn Channel off the Queensland coast of Australia. The whispy pattern of the bloom suggests that the plankton are Trichodesmium—a photosynthetic cyanobacteria, also called “sea saw dust” that is common in the world’s oceans. Trichodesmium is frequently observed around Australia this time of year. In fact, Captain Cook’s ship logs written while he was sailing in Australian waters in the 1700s contain detailed descriptions of Trichodesmium blooms. Astronauts frequently photograph large plankton blooms during their missions because a significant portion of the ISS orbits cross long stretches of ocean. In the process, astronauts become acute observers of subtle changes in sea surface dynamics. Imagery of surface plankton blooms offer multi-dimensional (in space and time) visualizations of the unique physical and chemical circumstances that support the blooms.
The Acropolis, Athens, Greece
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Published December 22, 2002
This high-resolution photograph taken by astronauts on board the International Space Station shows details of Athens’ historic ruins. The detail panel shows actual pixels for the area of the Acropolis—some of the most distinctive features are the Parthenon, and Odeum of Herodes Atticus.
Emi Koussi Volcano, Chad, North Africa
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Published December 8, 2002
Emi Koussi is a high volcano that lies at the south end of the Tibesti Mountains in the central Sahara in northern Chad. The volcano is one of several in the Tibesti massif, and reaches 3415 m in altitude, rising 2.3 kilometers above the surrounding sandstone plains. The volcano is 65 kilometers wide. This view of the Emi Koussi caldera is detailed to the point that it doesn’t include the entire 10-kilometer diameter of the caldera, but reveals individual lava strata within the walls of the summit cliffs. Nested within the main caldera is a smaller crater that contains white salts of a dry lake at its lowest point. Here too, strata are visible in the walls of the smaller crater. The smaller crater is surrounded by a region of darker rocks—a geologically young dome of lava studded with several small circular volcanic vents.
Lake Tandou, New South Wales, Australia
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Published December 1, 2002
Sections of Australia have been experiencing their worst drought in 100 years. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station documented conditions in Australia in 2002, including these images of Lake Tandou in the Menindee Lake system along the Darling River. The Menindee Lakes are part of an innovative water conservation project. This lakebed is protected from flooding and is used for agriculture—primarily cotton, sunflower and grains. It is one of several interconnected lakes that sit along the lower Darling River like a string of pearls. Other lakes function as water capture reservoirs to support controlled water flow for environmental and agricultural needs down river, and to provide flood mitigation.
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