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  Image: Geographic Location Direction Photo #: ISS062-E-105915 Date: Mar. 2020
Geographic Region: TANZANIA
Feature: LAKE RUKWA, UWANDA GAME RESERVE

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  Lake Rukwa, Tanzania

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) took this photograph of Lake Rukwa, one of the smaller lakes of the East African Rift. The image captures the southernmost 100 kilometers (60 miles) of the lake, one of several that occupy the deep, down-faulted depressions in Earth's crust that characterize the region.

The straight margins of Lake Rukwa were formed by faults of the rift. Several deltas have formed along the lake margins, with the Songwe and Momba rivers building the largest.

At the time of this photo in March 2020, the distributaries of the Momba and Songwe deltas were pulsing with muddy water. All of the rivers leading to these deltas appear to have brought down mud loosened by rains in the days before the photo was taken, giving Lake Rukwa a red-brown color. The thin darker, green streaks in the middle of the lake may be remnants of clear water from before the influx of mud, or they may be algae blooms. White patches on and near the Songwe River delta are small salt ponds and the open-cast pit of the New Luika gold mine.

Lake Rukwa supports Tanzania's third largest fishery. The long deep lakes of the Rift region - called the "great lakes of central Africa" - are major tourist attractions. The area to the west of Lake Rukwa (lower left) is part of the Uwanda Rukwa Game Reserve. Previous astronauts also have had their eyes drawn to Lake Bangweulu in neighboring Zambia.

 
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Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 428k
Mission: ISS062  
Roll - Frame: E - 105915
Geographical Name: TANZANIA  
Features: LAKE RUKWA, UWANDA GAME RESERVE  
Center Lat x Lon: 8.3S x 32.6E
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 10
 
Camera: N8
 
Camera Tilt: 44   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 170  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: N   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: 20200324   YYYYMMDD
Time: 121850   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 11.6S  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 31.0E  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 289   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 227   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 54   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views: FAULT, ISLAND, MINE, RIFT, VALLEY  
Water Views: DELTA, LAKE, RIVER  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views:  
City Views:  
Photo is not associated with any sequences


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