Return to Earth From Space Home
Earth from Space logo Image Information Earth from Space logo

Display a Screen Layout for Printing

IMAGE: gray corner       IMAGE: gray corner
  Image: Geographic Location Direction Photo #: STS112-E-6002 Date: Oct. 2002
Geographic Region: RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Feature: MT. KAZBEK, KOLKA GLACIER COLLAPSE

Ordering information for space photography
 
IMAGE: gray corner     IMAGE: gray corner

Image: gray corner     Image: gray corner
  View Low-Resolution Image  
  STS112-E-6002 Caucasus Range
While docked to the Space Station the international crew of Space Shuttle Mission STS-112 paused as the spacecraft sped over the Caucasus Range. They had planned before launch that a crewmember would look out the windows of the spacecraft for remnants of the disastrous collapse of Kolka Glacier. The close collaboration between the USA and Russia on all aspects of Space Station construction, and the presence on the Shuttle crew of Russian mission specialist Fyodor Yurchikhin, made the crew particularly interested in photographing the area to help scientists on the ground in their studies of the collapse.

There is a dramatic difference between this digital photograph taken by the Shuttle crew and one taken just a week before the collapse by the International Space Station crew. The debris from Kolka glacier obscures and covers the terminus of Maili glacier. The far northern path of the Genaldon River is filled with debris, compared to the clear river course that could be seen before.

The disaster claimed an estimated 140 lives when it sent 20 million tons of ice, rock and mud down Karmadon Gorge on September 20, 2002. The debris field stretches over 11 miles long and 820 feet wide, and according to the New York Times, will take as long as 10 years to thaw.
 
Image: gray corner     Image: gray corner

Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 109k
Mission: STS112  
Roll - Frame: E - 6002
Geographical Name: RUSSIAN FEDERATION  
Features: MT. KAZBEK, KOLKA GLACIER COLLAPSE  
Center Lat x Lon: 42.5N x 44.5E
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 25
 
Camera: E4
 
Camera Tilt: 32   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 400  
 
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: 151  
 
Date: 20021017   YYYYMMDD
Time: 090455   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 43.8N  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 46.2E  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 187   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 202   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 37   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views: GLACIER, RANGE  
Water Views: ICE  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views:  
City Views:  
Photo is not associated with any sequences


NASA
Home Page
JSC
Home Page
JSC Digital
Image Collection
Earth Science &
Remote Sensing

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