Earth from Space - Image Description

STS062-098-097 Santa Fe Trail, New Mexico, U.S.A. March 1994
The southern tip of the forested and partially snow-covered Sangre de Cristo Mountains occupies much of this low-oblique, southwest-looking photograph. The two roughly oval, dark lakes and reservoirs (bottom center of the photograph) pinpoint Las Vegas, while Santa Fe appears to the west along the southwestern edge of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Interstate Highway 25, formerly known as the Santa Fe Trail, connects these two cities as it winds along the southern tip of the mountains. The north-south aligned canyon in the middle of the mountains is the headwater area of the Pecos River. A small section of the Rio Grande and its rift system are visible (upper right corner).

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