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  Image: Geographic Location Direction Photo #: ISS039-E-20171 Date: May 2014
Geographic Region: UKRAINE
Feature: CRIMEAN PEN., SIVASH L., BLACK SEA

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  View Low-Resolution Image  
  Panorama of Crimea

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station used a short lens to gain this wide view of the entire diamond-shaped Crimean Peninsula that juts into the Black Sea. A series of shallow lagoons and wetlands known as the Sivash lakes separates the peninsula from the mainland (Ukraine). Being only up to 3 m deep, these lagoons warm up in summer and become very salty due to evaporation. Especially in the west, further from the Sea of Azov, they develop different colors (image lower center) as a result of the salt-tolerant algae that live in the salty water. These western Sivash lagoons make a unique landscape as seen from space that immediately indicate to astronauts that are near Crimea.



Crimea is a small part of the world (325 km from in an east-west direction) but one that has acquired fame over the centuries. The mild climate has made it a popular destination for Ukrainians and Russians from colder climes to the north. Sevastopol saw heavy fighting between the Russians and Germans in WWII. Yalta is the city where Allied leaders met together for a famous conference late in WWII to discuss post-war arrangements. Balaklava, near Sevastopol, is a city made famous during the Crimean War of the 1850s for the suicidal Charge of the Light Brigade--and for the head and neck garment known as the balaklava where soldiers first wore the garment. Sevastopol is also the home port of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, whose location was one of the causes for Russia's annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.



An image taken 2 seconds later shows the Strait of Kerch (just outside this image far left) is the shipping route that connects the Sea of Azov with the Black Sea.


 
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Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 101k
Mission: ISS039  
Roll - Frame: E - 20171
Geographical Name: UKRAINE  
Features: CRIMEAN PEN., SIVASH L., BLACK SEA  
Center Lat x Lon: 45.5N x 34.0E
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 10
 
Camera: N5
 
Camera Tilt: 44   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 80  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: S   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:  
 
Date: 20140507   YYYYMMDD
Time: 102904   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 49.0N  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 34.4E  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 202   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 222   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 56   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views: PENINSULA  
Water Views: SEA, STRAIT  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views: PORT  
City Views: YALTA  
Photo is not associated with any sequences


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