Start Date: End Date: Published Date Data Date
Argudan, Caucasus Mts., Russian Federation
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.
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Massive Sandstorm in Qatar
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.
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Major Dust Storm East of Bam, Iran
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.
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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.
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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.”
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100,000 Earth Photographs from the International Space Station
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.
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Measuring Water Depth from the International Space Station
Published January 12, 2004
Looking out the window of the International Space Station, astronauts often take the time to admire and photograph tropical islands and coral reefs. From an altitude of 400 kilometers and with only a digital camera as a tool, it seems impossible to make detailed measurements of the depth of underwater features. However, a new technique developed by NOAA scientists has done just that—plotted the depths of lagoon features at Pearl and Hermes Reef, northwest Hawaii, using digital astronaut photography from the International Space Station (ISS).
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The Many Faces of Mount Everest
Published December 29, 2003
Over the years, astronauts have used various viewing angles and lenses to capture the many faces of Everest. Differing seasons and illumination allow for very different, but always spectacular perspectives. The astronauts on the International Space Station obtained this view of Mt. Everest in late November 2003.
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Rio de la Plata
Published December 8, 2003
Rio de la Plata is the muddy estuary of the Paraná and Uruguay Rivers, and forms part of the border between Argentina and Uruguay. The rich estuary supports both capital cities of Buenos Aires and Montevideo. This image provides a snapshot of the complicated mixing in the Rio de la Plata between the fresh river waters and the water of the South Atlantic.
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Fall Colors Portland, Maine
Published December 1, 2003
The ISS-7 crew of the International Space Station enjoyed a bird’s-eye view of New England’s fall colors on a fine October morning in 2003. The fall foliage of Baxter Woods Park in Portland, Maine, shows the reds and browns of a mix of trees, including maple, old-growth white oaks, and hemlock. Nearby Evergreen Cemetery is highlighted by the brilliant red and yellow leaves of maple trees. Surrounded by the cityscape of Portland, the wooded cemetery is known for both historic headstones and wooded trails.
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Fire Smog in the Central Valley of California
Published November 24, 2003
The smoky remnants of October’s devastating fires still filled the southern California Central Valley on November 2, 2003. This “upside down” digital photograph was taken from the International Space Station from a position over the Pacific Northwest looking southward toward southern California. At the time this image was acquired, the fires had finally been brought under control, but ash and smoke remained trapped in the atmosphere above the valley, a bowl of land ringed by the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the east (left) and the Coast Range Mountains to the west (right).
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Boston
Published November 17, 2003
This image provides a good bird’s-eye view of the center of the city, including famous colonial and independence locations extending from Boston Common to the North End.
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