250,000 Earth Photographs from the International Space Station

The crew of Expedition 13 recently passed a major milestone: as of late August 2006, more than one quarter of a million images of Earth had been taken from the International Space Station. The 250,000^th image is an oblique view (a photograph taken from a side angle) of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. This view provides a sense of perspective and accents topography, in contrast to nadir (directly downwards) views. Snow highlights the peaks of the Banks Peninsula to the southeast of the city. The peninsula has a radically different landscape compared to the adjoining, flat Canterbury Plains, where Christchurch (gray patch to the north) is located. The Banks Peninsula is formed from the overlapping cones of the extinct Lyttelton and Akaroa volcanoes. Subsequent erosion of the cones formed the heavily dissected terrain visible in the image, and sea level rise led to the creation of several harbors around the Peninsula. Erosion continues unabated today, as evidenced by the apron of greenish blue, sediment-laden waters surrounding the Banks Peninsula.

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Astronaut photograph ISS013-E-67242 was acquired August 15, 2006, with a Kodak 760C digital camera using a 180 mm lens, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and the Image Science & Analysis Group, Johnson Space Center. The image in this article has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast. Lens artifacts have also 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.

Published August 28, 2006
Data acquired August 15, 2006

Source:

ISS > Digital Camera

Collection:

Astronaut Photography