Photo #: ISS006-E-23743 Date: Jan. 2003Geographic Region: PANAMA
Feature: PANAMA CANAL, PANAMA CITY
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Photo #: ISS006-E-23743 Date: Jan. 2003 Geographic Region: PANAMA Feature: PANAMA CANAL, PANAMA CITY |
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| The Panama Canal is a 50-mile long engineering wonder connecting the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Completed by the United States in 1914, it runs southeastward from Colon, through the man-made Gatun Lake, to Panama City on the Pacific side of the Isthmus of Panama. The canal, a major artery of international shipping, uses a series of massive locks, manmade lakes, and water supplied by the copious tropical rainfall of the region to lift and lower transiting ships a height of 85 feet over the continental divide. Thick rainforests border the canal, and the protected Canal Zone is easily delineated by the dark green band of forest, which contrast the lighter green cultivated areas of Panama. The ecologically sensitive Canal Zone supports diverse lowland rainforest that is crucial for water balance and erosion/siltation control around the canal. Scientists monitor the edges of the Canal Zone rainforest for degradation from development. The crew of the International Space Station acquired this image on the afternoon of January 30, 2003, using an electronic still camera with 85 mm lens. Fair-weather cumulus clouds from the Caribbean can be seen pouring southward through the natural gap in this mountain chain of Central America. |
| Images: | All Available Images Low-Resolution 76k |
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| Mission: | ISS006 |
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| Roll - Frame: | E - 23743 |
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| Geographical Name: | PANAMA |
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| Features: | PANAMA CANAL, PANAMA CITY |
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| Center Lat x Lon: | 9.0N x 79.5W |
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| Film Exposure: | N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus |
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| Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: | 25 |
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| Camera:: | E4 |
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| Camera Tilt: | 32 | LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical |
| Camera Focal Length: | 85 |
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| Nadir to Photo Center Direction: | SE | 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 |
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| Orbit Number: | 3958 |
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| Date: | 20030130 | YYYYMMDD |
| Time: | 203938 | GMT HHMMSS |
| Nadir Lat: | 10.3N |
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft |
| Nadir Lon: | 81.3W |
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft |
| Sun Azimuth: | 238 | Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point |
| Space Craft Altitude: | 209 | nautical miles |
| Sun Elevation: | 37 | Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point |
| Land Views: | FOREST |
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| Water Views: | CANAL |
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| Atmosphere Views: | |
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| Man Made Views: | |
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| City Views: | PANAMA CITY |
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Photo is not associated with any sequences | ||
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This service is provided by the International Space Station program and the JSC Earth Science & Remote Sensing Unit, ARES Division, Exploration Integration Science Directorate.
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