Earth from Space - Image Information


LOCATION Direction Photo #: ISS050-E-41317 Date: Feb. 2017
Geographic Region: TURKS AND CAICOS IS.
Feature: COCKBURN TOWN, N. CREEK, AIRPORT


 
Image Caption: Grand Turk Island

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station took this photograph of Grand Turk Island, situated on the southern end of the Bahamas archipelago in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Grand Turk Island is just 10 kilometers (6 miles) long, and much of the island is occupied by Cockburn Town (population about 5,000), the capital of Turks and Caicos.

Much of the land surface is covered by reddish-brown salt evaporation ponds and a saline lake known as Town Pond, around which Cockburn Town developed. The town was established in 1766 to support the growing salt industry. McCartney Airport, on the southern end of the island, is the largest airport.

Grand Turk sits on a large carbonate bank, which is almost double the size of the island. Waves breaking against the carbonate platform appear as a white line along the left margin of the image. The complex patterns on the east coast of Grand Turk (top of the image) are a fraction of a vast reef ecosystem that stretches discontinuously for nearly 1000 kilometers, as far as the northern Bahamas.

The color of the water in this photo tells us something about the depth: clear, shallow water is electric blue where the light-toned sands almost meet the surface; deeper blues indicate deeper water. The darkest blues indicate the deep ocean (lower left) and the Columbus Passage. Dipping at least 2150 meter (7,000 feet) in depth, the passage is known to divers for majestic underwater caverns, coral gardens, and black-coral formations. Tourists visit the passage every January through March to watch thousands of Atlantic humpback whales migrate to their mating grounds.

Grand Turk Island has an important historical connection to NASA and the United States. The first crewed orbital mission of the United States was launched with John Glenn piloting the Friendship 7 spacecraft in 1962. He successfully orbited the Earth three times and, after various complications, splashed down in the vicinity of Grand Turk Island. Glenn was taken to Cockburn Town for several days for medical checkups and debriefing.




Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 301k
Mission: ISS050  
Roll - Frame: E - 41317
Geographical Name: TURKS AND CAICOS IS.  
Features: COCKBURN TOWN, N. CREEK, AIRPORT  
Center Lat x Lon: 21.5N x 71.1W
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 10
 
Camera:: N6
 
Camera Tilt: 28   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 1150  
 
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:  
 
Date: 20170212   YYYYMMDD
Time: 161930   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 22.7N  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 69.6W  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 166   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 219   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 53   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views:  
Water Views:  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views:  
City Views:  

Photo is not associated with any sequences


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