Earth from Space - Image Description

STS090-712-005 Guadalupe Mountains, Texas, USA April 1998
The southern end of the Guadalupe Mountains that includes Guadalupe Peak (8751 feet-2667 meters), the highest point in Texas, is located almost in the center of the picture. In order to preserve the extensive fossil reef (largest in the world) Guadalupe Mountain National Park was created in 1972. The highly reflective surfaces west-southwest of the mountains are salt flats (dry lake beds). The darker, circular patterns west of the Guadalupe Mountains are cultivated, irrigated farmlands where center pivot irrigation techniques are being used to grow crops in this arid environment.

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