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Hurricane Isabel
Published September 16, 2003
From his vantage point high above the earth in the International Space Station, Astronaut Ed Lu captured this broad view of Hurricane Isabel.
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Astronaut Ed Lu captured this image of the eye of Hurricane Isabel as he passed overhead in the International Space Station on September 15, 2003. The storm had weakened somewhat, but still maintained its status as a Category 4 hurricane.
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Astronaut Ed Lu snapped this photo of the eye of Hurricane Isabel from the International Space Station on September 13, 2003 at 11:18 UTC. At the time, Isabel was located about 450 miles northeast of Puerto Rico. It had dropped to a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, packing winds of 150 miles per hour with gusts up to 184 miles per hour. This photo reveals the structure of Isabel’s eyewall.
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Published September 15, 2003
Astronaut Ed Lu captured this broad-view photograph of Hurricane Isabel from the International Space Station on September 13, 2003. At the time, Isabel was located about 450 miles northeast of Puerto Rico and packed winds of 150 miles per hour with gusts up to 184 miles per hour.
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Merapi Volcano, Java
At 2,911 meters, the summit of Merapi Volcano and its vigorous steam plume rises above a bank of stratus clouds on its southern flank on August 24, 2003. One of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes, it has been almost continuously active for nearly ten years, including periodic pyroclastic flows (hot ash and rock debris) and avalanches. The volcano is located less than 25 miles north of the city of Yogykarta in central Java. More than 50,000 people live adjacent the treacherous southwestern slope, where volcanic material often sloughs from the unstable summit. Note the deep ravines on the eastern slopes providing rich soils and moisture to the agriculture below.
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Hurricane Fabian
Published September 8, 2003
Astronauts on board the International Space Station photographed Hurricane Fabian on September 4, 2003 as it churned towards Bermuda. At the time the photo was taken, Fabian had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph and was moving to the north-northwest at 12 mph.
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Southwestern Ireland as seen from the International Space Station
Published August 31, 2003
This broad view from the International Space Station shows the relationship between valleys, mountains, and the major towns. Near Killarney are ancient oak and yew forests.
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Austin, Texas
Published August 24, 2003
It was Texas hot when this view of the capital city of Austin was taken in late July by astronaut Ed Lu. Adding to the rising temperatures were heated debates in the Texas Capitol Building, where a special session had convened. Eleven senate Democrats thwarted a redistricting vote by disappearing from the state. Were Lu, and his Expedition 7 partner Yuri Malenchenko looking for the missing Democrats? We’ll never know. Astronauts have always enjoyed observing cities around the world. These images of Austin provide a 2003 baseline for monitoring its regional development and growth.
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Changes in the Mamore River, Bolivia
Published August 18, 2003
The Mamore River drains north from the Andes Mts. in lowland Bolivia. An image taken in July 2003 from the International Space Station (ISS007-E-10797, 14 June 2003, 12:36 GMT) shows an 85 km stretch of the river south of the lowland town of Trinidad in the Beni Province. Numerous changes in river pattern are visible in the decade since Landsat imagery of the same area was acquired.
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Noctilucent Clouds
Published August 10, 2003
An astronaut on the ISS caught a glimpse of a sliver of the setting Moon and some clouds that shine at night.
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Îles Glorieuses
Published August 3, 2003
The Îles Eparses (scattered islets) dot the Indian Ocean to the west and north of Madagascar. The islands were protected by the French government in 1975 because of their importance for turtles and seabird nesting. This astronaut photograph, taken on June 17, 2001, from the International Space Station, shows details of the reefs surrounding Îles Glorieuses, one group in the Îles Eparses. The image was used to plan the 2002–03 field expeditions conducted by Agence pour la Recherche et la Valorisation Marines.
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Peruvian Valleys
Published July 20, 2003
Some of the deepest canyons in the world cut west to the Pacific from the high crest of the Andes Mountains in Peru. This dramatic image taken from the International Space Station provides a birds-eye view down the canyons of the Rio Camana and the Rio Ocona. The low early morning sun highlights the extreme topography created by rapidly uplifting mountains and powerful water erosion by water dropping nearly 10,000 feet (more than 3000 m) in this view. At the edge of the image is the snowy flanks of Nevado Coropuna, the highest mountain in the Cordillera Occidental (6613 meters).
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