Photo #: ISS039-E-5258 Date: Mar. 2014Geographic Region: USA-ARIZONA
Feature: GRAND CANYON, KAIBAB PLATEAU
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Photo #: ISS039-E-5258 Date: Mar. 2014 Geographic Region: USA-ARIZONA Feature: GRAND CANYON, KAIBAB PLATEAU |
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| Grand Canyon, Arizona The Grand Canyon in northern Arizona is a favorite for crews on the International Space Station--as well as one of the best known tourist attractions in the world. The steep walls of the Colorado River canyon and its many side canyons make an intricate landscape that contrasts with the dark green forested plateau to the north and to the south. The Colorado River is visible as a darker line snaking along the bottom of the canyon. The river has done all the erosional work of carving away cubic kilometers of rock in a geologically short period of time. The river lies at an altitude of 715 m (2345 feet), thousands of meters below the North and South Rims. Temperatures are furnace-like on the river banks in the summer, but Grand Canyon Village, the classic outlook point for visitors, enjoys a milder climate at an altitude of 2100 m (6890 feet). The Grand Canyon has become a geologic icon, known as a place where you can almost sense the invisible tectonic forces within the Earth, especially in the astronaut view from orbit. The North and South Rims of the canyon are part of the Kaibab Plateau, a gentle tectonic swell in the landscape outlined in the view by the dark green forested zone. The uplift of the plateau has two visible effects. One indication is the forest. In the drier parts of the world such as much of Arizona, forests usually indicate higher places (higher altitudes are cooler and wetter, conditions that allow trees to grow). The other indication is the canyon itself. Geologists now know that a river can cut a canyon only if the Earth surface rises vertically. If such uplift is not too rapid, a river can maintain its course by eroding huge quantities of rock and forming a canyon. |
| Images: | All Available Images Low-Resolution 341k |
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| Mission: | ISS039 |
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| Roll - Frame: | E - 5258 |
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| Geographical Name: | USA-ARIZONA |
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| Features: | GRAND CANYON, KAIBAB PLATEAU |
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| Center Lat x Lon: | 36.3N x 112.1W |
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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: | 10 |
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| Camera:: | N5 |
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| Camera Tilt: | HO | LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical |
| Camera Focal Length: | 180 |
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| Nadir to Photo Center Direction: | NW | 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: | |
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| Date: | 20140325 | YYYYMMDD |
| Time: | 152249 | GMT HHMMSS |
| Nadir Lat: | 31.1N |
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft |
| Nadir Lon: | 108.4W |
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft |
| Sun Azimuth: | 105 | Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point |
| Space Craft Altitude: | 222 | nautical miles |
| Sun Elevation: | 27 | Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point |
| Land Views: | FOREST, PLATEAU |
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| Water Views: | RIVER |
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| Atmosphere Views: | |
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| Man Made Views: | |
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| City Views: | |
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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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