Earth from Space - Image Description

STS059-154-165 Mojave Desert, California, U.S.A. April 1994
Natural features overshadow human activity in the hostile Mojave Desert between the small desert towns of Baker and Barstow. The prominent brown talus cones fan out in concentric patterns around some of the mountain bases. A triangular alluvial fan created by repeated depositional cycles of the Mojave River is visible near the top of the photograph. The black circular features within the fan are irrigated, cultivated fields. Several features lie adjacent to the fan--two dark, irregular lava beds to the southeast and lighter, dry lakebeds, the largest of which is Soda Lake, to the northeast. The thin, dark lines are Interstate Highway 15, north of Soda Lake; Interstate Highway 40, south of the lake; and a railroad right-of-way.

This service is provided by the International Space Station program and the JSC Earth Science & Remote Sensing Unit, ARES Division, Exploration Integration Science Directorate.