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  Image: Geographic Location Direction Photo #: ISS013-E-44847 Date: Jun. 2006
Geographic Region: EGYPT
Feature: PORT SAID, SUEZ CANAL, SHIPS

Ordering information for space photography
 
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  View Low-Resolution Image  
  Ship Traffic on the Suez Canal, Egypt

This astronaut photograph captures a northbound convoy of cargo ships entering the Mediterranean Sea from the Suez Canal in Egypt (leftmost canal branch at image center). The Suez Canal connects Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea with the port of Suez on the Red Sea, and provides an essentially direct route for transport of goods between Europe and Asia. The Canal is 163 kilometers (approximately 100 miles) long, and 300 meters (almost 1,000 feet) wide at its narrowest point--wide enough for ships as large as aircraft carriers to traverse it. Transit time from end to end is 14 hours on average.

The Canal was built under the direction of Ferdinand de Lesseps of France using primarily Egyptian labor, and it was opened to traffic in 1869. Subsequent wars and skirmishes have passed control of the Canal to various powers including the United Kingdom, Egypt, Israel, and the United Nations. A multinational observer force including the United States, Israel, and Egypt currently oversees the Canal.

This is an oblique image of the canal, meaning it has been taken at an angle. Astronauts and cosmonauts on the International Space Station (ISS) can photograph the part of the Earth directly below the station as it passes overhead, or they can photograph different parts of the globe. When they photograph different parts of the globe, they take pictures at an angle to provide a sense of perspective. In this case, the ISS was located above the eastern coast of Cyprus, and the astronaut was looking at Egypt to the southwest. Regions of reduced clarity in the image result from thin cloud cover. The day this image was taken, the total number of Earth photographs acquired by astronauts aboard the ISS passed 200,000.

 
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Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 226k
Mission: ISS013  
Roll - Frame: E - 44847
Geographical Name: EGYPT  
Features: PORT SAID, SUEZ CANAL, SHIPS  
Center Lat x Lon: 31.2N x 32.3E
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 10
 
Camera: E4
 
Camera Tilt: HO   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 800  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: SW   The direction from the nadir to the center point, N=North, S=South, E=East, W=West
Stereo?:   Y=Yes there is an adjacent picture of the same area, N=No there isn't
Orbit Number: 3527  
 
Date: 20060630   YYYYMMDD
Time: 131751   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 35.4N  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 34.8E  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 270   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 178   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 42   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views: COAST, GLOBE  
Water Views: CANAL, SEA  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views: PORT  
City Views: PORT SAID, SUEZ  
Photo is not associated with any sequences


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