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  Image: Geographic Location Direction Photo #: STS61A-48-71 Date: Nov. 1985
Geographic Region: USA-TEXAS
Feature: MATAGORDA BAY

Ordering information for space photography
 
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  STS61A-48-0071 Matagorda Bay, Texas, U.S.A. November 1985
Sediment-filled Matagorda Bay and its arm, Lavaca Bay, to the northwest, comprise the centerpiece of this near-vertical photograph. Matagorda Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, was first visited in 1685 by French explorer Robert LaSalle on his last expedition. Although the region is often hit with tropical storms and hurricanes, the bay, 50 miles (80 kilometers) long and 3 to 12 miles (5 to 19 kilometers) wide, is generally protected from the gulf by Matagorda Peninsula, a long sandspit, at the west end of which is the entrance to Matagorda Bay through Cavallo Pass; farther west and mostly out of the photograph is Matagorda Island, a sandbar on which Matagorda State Park is located. The small city of Port O'Connor, north of Cavallo Pass, is also discernible. At the east end of the bay is the small delta of the Colorado River, which is 900 miles (1448 kilometers) long and rises in the Staked Plains of northwest Texas. North of the delta, a large holding pond for a nuclear power plant can be seen. Although mostly a cattle-raising region, agriculture (rice, cotton, grain, corn, truck crops, fruit, dairy products, livestock, and poultry) is prevalent. The region around the bay is also noted for its fishing industries.
 
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Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 127k
Mission: STS61A  
Roll - Frame: 48 - 71
Geographical Name: USA-TEXAS  
Features: MATAGORDA BAY  
Center Lat x Lon: 28.5N x 96W
Film Exposure: N   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 0
 
Camera: HB
 
Camera Tilt: 10   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 250  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: S   The direction from the nadir to the center point, N=North, S=South, E=East, W=West
Stereo?: N   Y=Yes there is an adjacent picture of the same area, N=No there isn't
Orbit Number: 64  
 
Date: 19851103   YYYYMMDD
Time: 164024   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 29.0N  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 96W  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 151   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 177   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 41   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views: COAST, ISLAND  
Water Views: BAY, RIVER, SEDIMENT, INLET  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views: AGRICULTURE  
City Views:  
Photo is not associated with any sequences


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