Mega-iceberg A53a, South Atlantic

The mega-iceberg A53a (upper image) measured close to 50 kilometers by 22 kilometers, about seven times the area of Manhattan Island, in mid-January 2008 when astronauts took the photographs for this mosaic. The images were acquired from the International Space Station (ISS), located 780 kilometers to the north of the iceberg at an altitude of 341 kilometers; the perspective distorts the oblong shape of the iceberg, making it look squarer than it actually is.

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Astronaut photographs ISS016-E-23196, ISS016-E-23197, and ISS016-E-23198 were acquired on January 15, 2008, with a Kodak 760C digital camera fitted with an 800 mm lens, and are provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment. The images were taken by the Expedition 16 crew, and are provided by the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Center. The images in this article have been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast. Lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Caption by M. Justin Wilkinson, NASA-JSC.

Published February 25, 2008
Data acquired January 15, 2008

Source:

ISS > Digital Camera

Collection:

Astronaut Photography