Start Date: End Date: Published Date Data Date
Mt. Fuji, Japan
540 x 540 JPEG
Published March 8, 2004
Fuji, Japan’s tallest volcano (3,776 m) and a national symbol, is located about 110 km (70 miles) west-southwest of Tokyo in central Honshu, Japan. It is a highly recognizable target from space. The summit crater is about 250 m deep, with a diameter of about 500 meters.
Related images:
1000 x 1000 579 KB - JPEG
JPEG
Argudan, Caucasus Mts., Russian Federation
540 x 334 JPEG
Published March 1, 2004
The striking land use pattern, seen through a high magnification lens and highlighted by winter snow and low Sun angles, produces a unique view of the village of Argudan near the north slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountains. The image was taken with a handheld camera from the International Space Station in the early afternoon of December 20, 2003. This rural, agricultural community sits astride the main highway about 15 kilometers east-southeast of the city of Nalchik. Shadows from a line of trees planted as a windbreak near the highway give the road a ragged appearance. A small stream flowing northeastward exits heavily forested foothills through the village and fields of intensely cultivated croplands on the plains. Snow falls through the vegetation, making the woodlands appear extremely dark compared to the snow-covered fields. Astronauts also photographed nearby Nalchik, a tourist resort and industrial center. It is the major city of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic (population around 750,000), one of five small republics on the north slopes of the Caucasus Mountains, 200 kilometers west of Chechnya.
1000 x 656 303 KB - JPEG
Massive Sandstorm in Qatar
540 x 404 JPEG
Published February 26, 2004
This striking photograph shows a massive sandstorm sweeping over the Persian Gulf state of Qatar as it races southward toward southeastern Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on February 15, 2004. A major upper-level, low-pressure system over southwestern Asia led to a series of storms sweeping through the area.
1000 x 749 740 KB - JPEG
Major Dust Storm East of Bam, Iran
540 x 356 JPEG
Published February 25, 2004
This stunning photo shows a major dust storm raging in the Kerman Desert, just east of the city of Bam in Southeastern, Iran. The image was acquired by the crew of the International Space Station on the afternoon of February 15, 2004, using a digital camera with a 50-mm lens.
1000 x 659 237 KB - JPEG
540 x 404 71 KB - JPEG
Thinning Upper Atmosphere
Published February 23, 2004
From a vantage point about 360 km (225 miles) over the Earth, Space Station crewmembers photographed the crescent moon through the upper layers of Earth’s atmosphere. At the bottom of the image, a closed deck of clouds is probably at about 6 km (3 miles). The shades of blue grading to black are caused by the scatter of light as it strikes gas molecules of the very low density upper atmosphere.
656 x 1000 114 KB - JPEG
Pangue Dam, BÃobÃo River, Chile
Published February 16, 2004
Chile’s Bíobío River flows northwestward from the high Cordillera of the Andes to the Pacific Ocean near Concepción, about 450 kilometers south of Santiago. The river is known globally for spectacular white-water rafting. This image shows a section of the river that skirts around Callaqui volcano in the Andes, and features the Pangue Dam and reservoir filling a narrow, meandering segment of the Bíobío River valley. Completed in 1996, the dam is the first of six hydroelectric dams planned by ENDESA, a Chilean utility company. The future development of the Bíobío River is a point of intense debate among Chileans, and has been called Chile’s “defining environmental issue.”
1000 x 662 440 KB - JPEG
100,000 Earth Photographs from the International Space Station
540 x 405 JPEG
Published February 9, 2004
This image of the El Paso-Juárez area on the U.S.-Mexico border is the 100,000th photograph of Earth that astronauts have taken from the International Space Station. It was taken on January 26, 2004, by Expedition 8 crewmembers. The Rio Grande can be seen meandering through the area, forming the boundary between the sister cities of El Paso, Texas and Juárez, Chihuahua. North is to the right in this image, and the setting sun has cast the east side of the Sierra Juárez and Franklin Mountains into shadow.
1000 x 662 523 KB - JPEG
Glacial Retreat in Argentina
1000 x 1171 146 KB - JPEG
Published February 2, 2004
For the crew onboard the International Space Station daylight views of the Earth’s Southern Hemisphere offer fewer opportunities to observe and document land features with onboard cameras. However, South America’s Patagonian Ice Fields and glaciers in the far southern Andes mountains offer beautiful, dynamic features with frequent passes whenever weather conditions permit. On the afternoon of January 3, 2004, the crew took this view of the Upsala Glacier in Argentina. A worldwide retreat of glaciers was observed during the twentieth century and most of the Patagonia’s glaciers, including Upsala, were no exception.
1000 x 1171 170 KB - JPEG
540 x 711 JPEG
Five-Year-Old Icebergs near South Georgia Island
1000 x 772 145 KB - JPEG
Published January 26, 2004
These photographs, taken from the International Space Station in January, 2004, show two pieces of a massive iceberg that broke off from the Ronne Ice Shelf in October, 1998. The pieces of iceberg A-38 have floated relatively close to South Georgia Island. After 5 years and 3 months adrift, they are approximately 1,500 nautical miles from their origin. In the oblique image, taken a few minutes later, the cloud pattern reveals the impact of the mountainous islands on the local wind field. At this time, the icebergs are sheltered in the lee side of the island.
1000 x 676 113 KB - JPEG
540 x 709 JPEG