Earth from Space - Image Description

STS062-085-008 Charlotte Area, North Carolina, U.S.A. March 1994
The downtown core, or central business district, of Charlotte can be identified as the concentrated, highly reflective area where several highways converge (slightly below center). Sections of Interstate Highways 85 and 77, shown as thin, light colored lines, are visible as they radiate outward from the downtown core in northeast-southwest and north-south directions, respectively. Charlotte-Douglas International Airport can be identified as the highly reflective feature, located about 5 miles (8 km) west of downtown Charlotte. The serpentine shaped lake southwest of Charlotte is muddy looking Wylie Lake. This lake was created by damming the Catawba River. The southern end of Lake Norman, another reservoir on the Catawba River, is visible in the lower right corner of the picture. The cities of Gastonia (North Carolina), west of Charlotte, and Rock Hill (South Carolina) south of Charlotte can also be identified.

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