Earth from Space - Image Description

STS51B-44-0052 Skikoku Island, Japan May 1985
The smallest of the four main islands of Japan, most of eastern half of Skikoku Island can be seen in this south-southeast-looking low-oblique view. Skikoku is separated from the islands of Honshu and Kyushv by the Inland Sea (bottom left). The interior of the island is mountainous and heavily forested, and is drained by many rivers, including the Yoshimo, which sits in a large rift or fault valley (bottom center to center left). Flat regions along the coasts and in the river valleys are densely settled with agriculture or urban developments.

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