Earth from Space - Image Description

STS066-152-128 Mississippi River, Illinois November 1994
This panoramic northeast looking view show portions of western Illinois, southeastern Iowa, and northeastern Missouri. The Mississippi River enters the scene at the top center of the image (north) near the Quad Cities and traverses the image generally in a southerly direction exiting the scene at the bottom center to the south of Quincy, Illinois. This whole region is a rich grain and livestock area, and is part of the Great Corn Belt Region of the United States. Most of this area of the middle Mississippi River Basin was covered by an extensive mid-continental glacier, which occurred 20000 years ago. The retreating glacier created the landscape of this region that is visible today.

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