(Author’s note: I retrieved this STS-59 highlights summary, and scanned and reformatted it for this blog.)

A Publication of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration–MH-027/5-94

Space Shuttle Endeavour

April 9 – 20, 1994

Commander: Sidney M. Gutierrez (Col., USAF)

Pilot:  Kevin P. Chilton (Col., USAF)

Payload Commander: Linda M. Godwin (Ph.D.)

Mission Specialists:

Jerome Apt (Ph.D.)

Michael R. Clifford (Lt. Col., USA)

Thomas D. Jones (Ph.D.)

Major Mission Accomplishments

• Completed the first flight of the Space Radar Laboratory (SRL) payload, mapping 12% of the total Earth’s surface as part of NASA’s Mission to Planet Earth.
• Conducted investigations in ecology, hydrology, oceanography, geology, and radar calibration, providing researchers with data to distinguish human- induced environmental changes from other natural forms of change.
• Demonstrated the use of advanced multi-frequency, multi-polarized radar as a tool for all-weather, around­ the-clock monitoring of Earth’s environment and surface.
• Conducted special processing of radar data to extract information on the dynamics of the Southern Ocean.
• Successfully conducted global atmospheric measurements of carbon monoxide concentrations, important to global warming studies.
• Conducted the first joint experiment between NASA and the National Institutes of Health, examining muscle and bone cell biology in space.
• Completed nine direct school contacts with students around the world using the Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment (SAREX).
• Conducted the growth of twelve Non-Linear Optical (NLO) organic crystals in the Consortium for materials Development in Space Complex Autonomous Payload (CONCAP) experiment.

Out in the woods, lost hikers may try to find some high ground in order to regain their bearings. The high perspective gives hikers a larger field of view to scan the surrounding terrain for points of interest. This is an effective method, unless the hiker’s vision is reduced by clouds, fog, or darkness.

Likewise, scientific researchers, policy makers, and military operations require information about specific regions of Earth that may be difficult to obtain due to blocked views or remote locations. The ability to “see” and gather information about objects hidden from optical observation is the driving motivation behind radar imaging from space. One of the most useful feature of imaging radar is its ability to make measurements over virtually any region at any time, regardless of weather or sunlight conditions. At some frequencies, radar waves can also penetrate through vegetation, some types of snow, and extremely dry sand.

The STS-59 mission lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center on the 62nd Space Shuttle flight carrying to space the Space Radar Laboratory-1 (SRL-1) payload as part of NASA’s Mission to Planet Earth program. SRL consists of the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) and a sensor to measure carbon monoxide distribution in the lower atmosphere. SIR-C / X-SAR (actually five separate radars) also contained the Data Processing Assembly to provide direct readout of ocean surface data. SIR-C / X-SAR was jointly developed by NASA, the German Space Agency (DARA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). NASA developed the SIR-C (L- and C-band radars). DARA and ASI developed the X-band system and all three participated in the integration of these radars into a single instrument, the SIR-C/X-SAR. Also carried in the cargo bay of Endeavour with SIR-C / X-SAR was the Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellites (MAPS) developed by the NASA Langley Research Center. NASA will distribute the data and findings of these experiments to assist the international scientific community in essential research for protecting the environment.

Once the crew was on orbit, they powered up the SRL-1 payloads and conducted a checkout of the experiment systems. Ground controllers began uplinking commands to begin radar observations during the eleven day flight. The crew worked in two shifts around the clock to conduct Earth photography and personal observation of weather and environmental conditions to compare to the SRL data after the flight. To aid in postflight data interpretation, the crew documented site conditions by maintaining a written log and taking nearly 14,000 photographs with several cameras and lenses. The crew also performed 412 attitude maneuvers, the most of any Shuttle mission, to reduce radar ambiguities, particularly in the X-band frequency radar. The mission returned approximately 47 terabits (47 trillion bits) of data–the equivalent of 20,000 encyclopedia volumes.

The SRL examined over 400 sites on Earth — 19 of which were designated as “supersites.” These sites were high priority focal points for data collection. Each supersite represented different environments within the scientific disciplines of ecology, hydrology, oceanography, geology, and radar calibration. As such, these are areas where intensive field work has occurred before, during, and after the mission. The supersite locations for ecology included: Manaus, Brazil; Raco, MI.; Duke Forest, NC.; and Central Europe. The supersite locations for hydrology included: Chickasha, OK.; Otztal, Austria; Bebedouro, Brazil; and Montespertoli, Italy. Sites for oceanography included: the Gulf Stream, mid-Atlantic; Northeast Atlantic Ocean; and Southern Ocean. The Galapagos Islands, Sahara Desert, Death Valley, CA, Andes Mountains, and Hawaii were the sites for geology.  Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany; Kerang, Australia; and Flevoland, The Netherlands were the calibration sites.

Ecologists will use the radar images of the tropical rain and temperate forests to study land use, the volume, types, and extent of vegetation, and the effects of fires, floods , and clear cutting. Hydrologists will use the data to study wetlands and snow cover to estimate the soil moisture. “Hidden” water plays a major role in determining whether a region is wet or dry and influences the global distribution of energy. Oceanographers will use the data to study how the Earth’s climate is moderated by the ocean, particularly heat-transporting currents like the Gulf Stream. Geologists will use the data to map geological structures and rock formations over large areas.  They can also use the data to continue studies of features that record past climate changes. On a previous shuttle flight, SIR-A demonstrated the ability to penetrate extremely dry sand, and discovered ancient river channels in portions of the Sahara Desert. The calibration team will use their results to both test calibration methods and provide calibrated data to the rest of the team.

From the vantage point of space, the SIR-C / X­ SAR experiments could record a 15- to 60-km wide strip of Earth.  Several of the observations by SIR-C  /X-SAR were processed into images in real time at the  NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and shown during the mission. Even with high-speed computer technology, it will still take five months to produce a complete set of survey images from the large volume of data returned.

The MAPS experiment also conducted operations throughout the mission. MAPS measured concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) around the world.  Carbon monoxide plays a key role in the chemical reactions in the atmosphere.  Carbon monoxide combines with the hydroxyl (OH) radical and forms carbon dioxide. OH is a key participant in the breakdown and removal of greenhouse gases such as methane, which in turn is important in the chemistry of stratospheric ozone. If the availability of hydroxyl is reduced, the breakdown and removal of greenhouse gases will also be reduced. MAPS’ primary goal was to measure CO distribution between the altitudes of 4 and 15 kilometers. Two previous shuttle flights of MAPS confirmed that forest and grassland burning in the tropics were a major source of carbon monoxide, greater than previously thought. Preliminary results from STS-59 showed unexpected high concentrations  in the Northern Hemisphere and correlation with crew observations of fire.

The crew not only examined Earth, but inside the crew compartment, they operated two experiments studying the growth of bone and muscle tissues in microgravity. The Space Tissue Loss/National Institutes of Health (STLNIH) experiments were the first joint venture between NASA and the NIH.  The two separate experiments  in middeck lockers both provided nutrients to the cells for growth, while one of the experiments allowed the crew to use a video camera to view the cell growth and downlink the video to investigators from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.  The research will help scientists understand, on a cellular level, the mechanisms involved in bone loss and muscle atrophy of astronauts during spaceflight and contribute to our understanding of similar problems on Earth.

The crew also continued research on how the human body adapts to microgravity by conducting the Visual Function Tester-4 (VFT-4) experiment. Much like an electronic eye chart,  the VFT measures an astronaut’s eyes for near and far points of clear vision as well as the ability to change focus within the range of clear vision.

The crew conducted nine educational contacts with students around the world using the Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment (SAREX). The SAREX program provides students with the opportunity to talk directly with astronauts in space via amateur radio. The technical aspect of SAREX provides the incentive for students to study math, science, and technology.

In the payload bay, the Consortium for Materials Development  in Space Complex Autonomous Payload-IV (CONCAP-IV), developed by the University of Alabama-Huntsville,  conducted research into the growth of Non-Linear Optical thin films and crystals through physical vapor transportation. Optical crystals are of primary importance in the Optoelectronics and Photonics industry, especially for optical computing. Also in the payload bay were three Get-Away Special  (GAS) experiments by students and private researchers examining everything from thermal conductivity measurements of liquids to cellular slime mold growth in microgravity.

Mission Facts

Orbiter: Endeavour

Mission Dates:  April 9 – 20, 1994

Commander: Sidney M. Gutierrez (Col., USAF)

Pilot: Kevin P. Chilton (Col., USAF)

Payload Commander: Linda M. Godwin (Ph.D.)

Mission Specialist:   Jerome Apt  (Ph.D)

Mission Specialist: Michael R. Clifford (Lt.Col., USA)

Mission Specialist: Thomas D. Jones (Ph.D.)

Mission Duration:   11 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes

Kilometers Traveled: 7,574,784

Orbit Inclination:  57 degrees

Orbits of Earth: 183

Orbital Altitude:  222 km

Payload Mass Up: 9,717 kg

Orbiter Landing Mass:  100,776 kg

Landed: Shuttle Landing Facility (KSC)

Payloads and Experiments:

Space Radar Lab I (SRL- 1)

STLNIH – Space Tissue Loss/National Institute of Health–Cells

VFT-4 – Visual Function Tester

SAREX – Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment

CONCAP-IV – Consortium for Materials Development in Space Complex Autonomous Payload

GAS-Get-Away Special

Crew Biographies

Commander:  Sidney  M. Gutierrez (Col.,USAF). Sid Gutierrez was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  He received a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1973 and a master’s degree in management ·from Webster College in 1977. He served as a T-38 instructor pilot and flew the F-15 Eagle with the 49th Tactical Fighter Wing.  After graduating from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, Gutierrez served as primary test pilot for airframe and propulsion testing on the F-16 Falcon. He has over 500 parachute jumps and more than 4,000 flying hours in approximately 30 different types of vehicles. Gutierrez was named an astronaut in 1984 and flew as pilot on STS-40 in 1991.

Pilot: Kevin P. Chilton (Col., USAF), Kevin Chilton was born in Los Angeles, California. He earned a bachelor of science degree in engineering sciences from the U.S. Air  Force Academy and a master of science degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University.  He served as a combat-ready pilot and instructor in the RF-4 Phantom II and the F-15 Eagle. Following graduation from the USAF Test Pilot school, he conducted weapons and systems tests in all .models of the F-15 and F-4. He has logged over 4,000 hours of flight time in more than 20 different types of aircraft. Chilton became an astronaut in 1988 and flew as the pilot of Mission STS-49.

Mission Specialist: Linda M. Godwin (Ph.D.), Linda Godwin was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, but considers Jackson, Missouri, to be her hometown. She earned a bachelor of science degree from Southeast Missouri State University in physics and mathematics and an MA and Ph.D. in physics from the University of Missouri, Columbia. While at the University of Missouri, she conducted research in low-temperature condensed matter physics, where she authored and coauthored several scientific papers.  She is an instrument-rated private pilot. She joined NASA in 1980 and served as a flight controller and payloads officer in Mission Control for several Shuttle flights. Godwin was selected as an astronaut in 1985 and is currently Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office. She previously flew as a mission specialist on STS-37.

Mission Specialist: Thomas  D. Jones (Ph.D.).  Thomas  David Jones was born in 1955 in Baltimore, Maryland. He earned a bachelor of science degree in basic sciences from the U.S. Air Force Academy and a Ph.D. in planetary sciences from the University of Arizona. He served as a B-52 strategic bomber pilot and aircraft commander, accumulating over 2,000 hours of flight experience. After leaving the Air Force, Jones worked toward his doctorate, using remote sensing to investigate the composition of asteroids and meteorites, and researching the utility of asteroid resources in space exploration. He was a program management engineer for the CIA’s Office of Development and Engineering and later a senior scientist at Science Applications International Corporation, analyzing future missions to Mars, asteroids, and the outer solar system. He was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1990. This was his first shuttle flight.

Mission Specialist: Jay Apt (Ph.D.).  Jay Apt was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, but considers Pittsburgh, Pennsylva­nia, to be his hometown. He received a bachelor of arts degree, magna cum laude, in physics from Harvard College, and a doctorate in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As a staff member of Harvard’s Center for Earth and Planetary Physics, he supported NASA’s Pioneer Venus Mission. While at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Apt studied Venus, Mars, and the outer solar system and was Science Manager of the Table Mountain Observatory. From 1982 until his selection as an astronaut in 1985, he was a flight controller responsible for Shuttle payload operations at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. He has logged over 3,000 hours flying time in some 30 different types of vehicles. Apt served as a mission specialist on the STS- 37 and 47 missions.

Mission Specialist: Michael  Richard Clifford (Lt Col,  USA).  Rich Clifford was born in San Bernardino, California, but considers Ogden, Utah, to be his hometown. He earned a bachelor of science degree from the United States Military Academy and a master of science degree in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.  Clifford served with the 10th Cavalry and then completed pilot training as the top graduate of his class. He served in a variety of positions with the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Germany and was an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at West Point. Clifford became an experimental test pilot following graduation from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in 1986. He has flown over 3,000 hours in more than 50 types of aircraft. Clifford became an astronaut in 1990. He flew as a mission specialist on STS-53 aboard Discovery in December 1992.

— Flight Crew Operations Directorate, NASA Johnson Space Center, May, 1994

***

To read the inside story of STS-59, pick up a copy of “Sky Walking” via my website. To bring my vivid retelling of an astronaut’s journey to your audience, visit:

www.AstronautTomJones.com

 

23 years ago on STS-59, Endeavour, we were 114 nautical miles up on April 14 when we snapped this 90mm Linhoff image of the Valley of the Lakes in western Mongolia. One of our Space Radar Lab 1 science targets was that snowcapped range of the Altai Mountains at lower left (for geological faulting and glacier studies). North is toward the upper right. These lakes always appeared to us as a string of aquamarine gems strung delicately together, and weather permitting, we saw them as often as three orbits each day on my “Blue Shift” (nighttime in Houston). A good photo for Earth Day.

Next day, we received a thorough orientation and briefing on the launch pad’s safety equipment, and practiced the emergency escape procedures which could get us away from the shuttle quickly and safely. Here we practice how to climb down from the slide wire baskets at the end of their run, then make our way to the blast bunker at the pad’s perimeter.

We all had a chance to drive the M113 APC, below, just in case we had to evacuate an injured crewmember from the blast bunker and get him to a nearby helipad.

Our crew posed on the launch pad next to Endeavour during the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test activities. This swingarm carries flammable, gaseous hydrogen away from the external tank during launch preparations. It’s amazing to get so close to this massive machinery, even more startling to realize you’re going to ride it off the planet.

 

 

Following lunch back at crew quarters, we headed back to the pad for an afternoon press conference near the blast bunker on the pad perimeter road.

On the shot below, the slide wires for the escape baskets are visible, reaching back to the 195-foot level at Pad 39A. It was a hot August day on the Florida Space Coast.

As we waited for our strap-in and countdown rehearsal aboard Endeavour, we took some photos atop the launch pad.

 

Steve and I would work on the Blue Shift together with Dan Bursch while in orbit. Steve rode uphill in the MS-1 position on the flight deck, next to flight engineer and MS-2 Dan Bursch. Our countdown rehearsal ended with a mock pad abort and an emergency egress from the crew module to the escape slide baskets on the western, or far side of the 195-foot level.

Two days before STS-68 launch in 1994, the crew arrives at the Cape beach house for BBQ with family members. Left to right: Steve Smith, Mike Baker, Tom Jones, Terry Wilcutt, Jeff Wisoff, and Dan Bursch. NASA had rented us some nifty Chrysler LeBaron convertibles. (below, NASA 9-28-94)

The day before launch, our food technicians start loading the contents of the fresh food locker: Wheat Thins in ziplocs, tortillas into dark green packages, squeezable cheese spread, picante sauce packets, peanut butter, empty water pouches, my TastyKake chocolate cupcakes and butterscotch krimpets, and (ahem) white packets of high-fiber cookies.

After our pad abort on August 18, we were all eager to go. Here are the four “Hairballs” from the 1990 astronaut group flying on STS-68: Jones, Wilcutt, Wisoff, and Bursch. In the background of the suit room, we see Hoot Gibson (chief astronaut) in the blue flight suit, with tan-suited Dave Leestma (chief of Flight Crew Operations) on the right. We would shortly walk to the Astrovan for our ride to Pad 39A.

In the photo above, LIz and I posed in front of Endeavour as part of our spouse’s tour before heading to night viewing with our friends and family. We were able to see the ship from top to bottom, from the White Room down to the flame trench beneath the mobile launch platform on Pad 39A. Likely taken Aug. 17, 1994. For more info on STS-68, see: http://www.AstronautTomJones.com

(posted 4/12/19)

**

Our view of New Zealand’s South Island on April 16, 1994 from shuttle Endeavour. North is at upper left. The Southern Alps are the snow-capped range at left, with Mt. Cook (at 12,218′) the prominent peak at middle left. The three north-south lakes on the south side of Mt. Cook are (from top) Lake Takapo, Lake Pukaki, and Lake Ohau. Lake Benmore is at center bottom. The milky blue lakes, fed by glacial meltwater, are even more striking when seen while standing on their shores. This is one place I’ve actually seen both from space and on the ground. From coast to coast, the South Island and New Zealand are well worth the trip.

(posted 4/11/19)

**

Twenty-five years ago, Endeavour with its crew of six and Space Radar Lab payload soared 120 miles over the Eighty-Mile Beach on the northwest coast of Australia. The beach is some 220 kilometres (140 mi) in length, forming the coastline where the Great Sandy Desert approaches the Indian Ocean.

I found it easy to imagine that our view resembled that from a spaceship around Mars. During our 11-day radar survey of the home planet, we were treated to stunning views of Earth’s varied and beautiful landscapes. I’m still hoping to visit this corner of the world someday.

www.AstronautTomJones.com

(posted April 10, 2019)

**

The highest peak outside of Asia, Aconcagua is in the lower left of this image from our STS-59 mission aboard Endeavour. This tortured region of the Andes caught our eye as we crossed South America’s western margin during our Space Radar Lab 1 mission. We were 116 nautical miles high when our crew took this Hasselblad 70mm film image, using a 250mm telephoto lens. North is to the upper left in this image, and the lighting shows that the Andes Mountains were drenched in late afternoon sunlight. Roads crossing this region of Argentina (Aconcagua is just east of the border with Chile) follow the deeply incised valleys in this image. The triple valley junction at lower right shelters the town of Puntada Vacas along Highway 7. Uspallata is at upper right, in the desert valley below the foothills. Aconcagua is not a volcano, but is lifted by the subduction of the Nazca plate beneath the South American plate just off the shore of Chile.

Wikipedia says about Aconcagua:

Aconcagua (Spanish pronunciation: [akoŋˈkaɣwa]) is the highest mountain outside Asia, at 6,961 meters (22,838 ft), and by extension the highest point in both the Western Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. It is located in the Andes mountain range, in the Mendoza Province, Argentina, and lies 112 kilometers (70 mi) northwest of its capital, the city of Mendoza. The summit is also located about 5 kilometers from San Juan Province and 15 kilometers from the international border with Chile. The mountain itself lies entirely within Argentina and immediately east of Argentina’s border with Chile. Aconcagua is one of the Seven Summits.

www.AstronautTomJones.com

On most of my passes across the Pacific on STS-59, I used that 30 minutes to take a break from the camera work and headed down to the middeck to grab a snack. But when I could see our ground track would take us over historic, even hallowed, terrain, I’d make sure to try and grab a picture. That was the case on April 12, 1994, when I shot the volcanic island of Iwo Jima with a 250mm lens mounted on a 70mm Hasselblad film camera. So many American and Japanese died in the ferocious fighting of February and March 1945: 26,000 Americans were casualties, including 6800 killed in action. Japanese losses totaled 22,000–the entire garrison. Only 216 surrendered.

The savage fighting, however, secured Iwo Jima as an airfield for fighter escorts and an emergency landing base for Japan-bound B-29 Superfortresses. The lives of thousands of U.S. airmen were saved by the Marines’ sacrifice in capturing Iwo Jima. As General James L. Jones, 32nd Commandant of the Marine Corps, said, “The valor and sacrifice of the Marines and Sailors who fought on Iwo Jima is, today and forever, the standard by which we judge what we are and what we might become.”

Just looking at the island from space drew me in to a story familiar from my reading of history; it is impossible to forget the dedication of soldiers on both sides, now allies in space as well as on Earth.

NASA Image Caption:  Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands April 1994
The largest of three Volcano Islands, Iwo Jima can be seen in this view from the south. Iwo Jima is nearly 5 miles (9km) long, and 2 miles (4 km) wide and covers an area of 8 sq. miles (21 sq. km). Mount Suribachi, 546 feet (167 meters) high, on the south side of the island (lower left), is an extinct volcano. The main industries are sulfur mining and sugar refining. Iwo Jima was the scene for one of the severest battle campaigns in United States history during World War II. The battle began on February 19, 1945 against a Japanese force of over 22000 troops, who were well fortified in the numerous caves that make up the island topography. Casualties were high on both sides. The island was completely taken by United States forces on March 15, 1945. The photograph acquired of the United States flag being raised by U.S. Marines on the top of Mount Suribachi is one of the most famous photographs ever taken and inspired a memorial being built near Washington, D.C. honoring the United Stated Marine Corps. (NASA STS059-210-033)

San Francisco Bay, taken by the crew of orbiter Endeavour on Space Radar Lab 1. The crew took this image from about 120 nautical miles up, on April 14, 1994. North is to the left. At top, the delta of the combined Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers spreads into San Francisco Bay. Variations in water color caused both by sediment load and by wind streaking strike the eye. Man-made features dominate this scene. The Berkeley/Oakland complex rims the shoreline of the main bay to the right (south), and San Francisco fills the peninsula in the foreground. Salt-evaporation ponds contain differently-colored algae depending on salinity. The low altitude (less than 120 nautical miles) and unusually-clear air combine to provide unusually-strong green colors in this spring scene. Hasselblad 70mm film camera with 100mm lens.

It’s easy to see the San Andreas fault stretching from upper left to lower right across the mouth of the Bay, the Golden Gate. Its famous bridge is visible crossing from San Francisco at right to Marin County at left. The Oakland Bay Bridge crosses over Treasure Island as it connects San Francisco and the Oakland area on the eastern Bay shore. Golden Gate Park is the rectangular, green swath just sought of the bridge. I was in San Francisco last January and enjoyed some delicious Chinese food in Chinatown. No good Chinese food in space!  (STS059-213-009; 9-20 April 1994)

Endeavour’s crew took this Hasselblad 70mm film view, using a 40mm lens, of the island of Madagascar’s west coast, with the Betsiboka River flowing northwest into the Mozambique Channel off East Africa. We were 114 nautical miles up on April 18, 1884 when we snapped this shot. We are looking southwest in this view. The Betsiboka, says Wikipedia, is:

…a 525-kilometre (326 mi) long river in central-north Madagascar. It flows northwestward and empties to Bombetoka Bay, forming a large delta. It originates to the east of Antananarivo. The river is surrounded in mangroves.^[1] The river is distinct for its red-coloured water, which is caused by river sediments. The river carries an enormous amount of reddish-orange silt to the sea. Much of this silt is deposited at the mouth of the river or in the bay.

The heavy sediment load is dramatic evidence of the catastrophic erosion of northwestern Madagascar.^[2] Removal of the native forest for cultivation and pastureland during the past 50 years has led to massive annual soil losses approaching 250 metric tonnes per hectare (112 tons per acre) in some regions of the island, the largest amount recorded anywhere in the world.

Earth-orbiting astronauts always mark the Betsiboka with a photo, updating the destructive process of erosion and sediment runoff on Madagascar, where scarcely 20% of the original rain forest remains. I hope the island nation’s citizens begin the slow, but steady process of reforesting their home, so its environment can regain its health and support a wiser, and more prosperous, human population. However, poverty and an ineffective government continue to put pressure on the remaining forest. [May 1, 2017]

Here’s the view across Scandinavia from my first shuttle mission, STS-59. North is at upper right. We’re looking west past Denmark at lower left, Sweden at center and right, and the snow-capped mountains of Norway at top center. At lower left, Copenhagen, Denmark, lies across the strait from Malmo, Sweden (just north of that little T-shaped peninsula off Sweden’s southern tip). That’s Oland island at right off Sweden’s eastern coast. At center left is the Kattegat, the enclosed sea between Denmark’s Jutland peninsula and Sweden. The Skagerrak is the strait, top left, winding between Jutland and Norway, and feeding into the Kattegat. At top, we can clearly see the snow line as spring advances southward. This is about as far north as our orbit (57-degree inclination to the equator) would carry us. This view brings a geography textbook–or Google Maps–to life!

NASA Image Caption:
Southern Sweden, with its plethora of lakes, is visible in this west-looking, high-oblique photograph. The lakes were created when the continental glaciers scoured this area and then receded, allowing the countless depressions to fill with water. In addition to numerous smaller lakes that are generally aligned in a north-south orientation, two large lakes—larger Lake Vänern and Lake Vättern—can be seen toward the northern edge of the photograph. The dark green area inland from the coast is forested lands. A small part of the Baltic Sea is pictured off the southeast coast of Sweden, and the Skagerrak and Kattegat, the waterway entrance into the Baltic Sea, are shown off the southwest coast of Sweden. Although no specific details can be ascertained at this scale, the four main landforms of Denmark (viewing west to east)—a peninsula (Jylland) and three islands (Fyn, Sjelland, and Lolland)—can be seen along the southern edge of the photograph. (STS059-223-065)

 

Our 100mm-lens Hasselblad photo of three of the Hawaiian islands was taken on Nov. 28, 1996 from an altitude of 190 nm (352 km). From Columbia, we noticed the clouds piled high on the windward side of Molokai (upper left), Lanai (center), and west Maui (upper right). Molokai’s highest point is 4970 feet, the summit of East Molokai volcano, the northern half of which slid into the sea in a titanic landslide. From the north shore, the projecting peninsula is a small shield volcano, the most recent eruption on Molokai, and the location of Kalaupapa, the site of a leper colony that operated from 1866 to 1969. Fr. Damien’s service there made the colony famous, and the community is now a national historical park. On the west end, the Papohaku Beach, a 3-mile long curve of golden sand, makes for an idyllic walk (been there, done that, and would still like to go back).

NASA says that Maui is the second youngest and second largest of the main Hawaiian Islands. Maui covers an area of 728 sq. miles (1886 sq. km). The island consists of two large volcanoes, West Maui (extinct, and visible here) and East Maui, (Haleakala) which last erupted in 1790. Lanai (near the center of the image), once owned by the Dole Pineapple Company, is the remnant of a volcano that is over one million years old. Lanai covers an area of 141 sq. miles (365 sq. km) and is 18 miles (29 km) long and 13 miles (21 km) wide. Molokai (situated north of Lanai) covers an area of 261 sq. miles (676 sq. km) and is 38 miles (61 km) long and only 10 miles (16 km) wide, with the west end being very dry.

The Molokai channel west of Maui and between those two islands is also known as Lahaina Roads, a deep-water, protected anchorage that was once a regular anchorage for the U.S. Pacific fleet. The Japanese Pearl Harbor striking force reconnoitered Lahaina Roads on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, and found it empty. Had the U.S. battleships been sunk in Lahaina Roads, salvage and repair in those deep waters would have been impossible. “Lucky” the fleet was in Pearl Harbor on that fateful morning.

My family visited Lanai in 2001 and enjoyed the cool uplands on the slopes of the ancient volcano there, Mount Lānaʻihale, whose summit is at an elevation of 3,366 feet. On the south shore is Manele Bay, at Hulupoe Beach, a great spot for body surfing and snorkeling. Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, owns most of Lanai–but he’s never had the view that our crew on Columbia did.   (added 1/14/19)

 

Our STS-80 Columbia crew took the above 100mm telephoto image of the Nabro volcano on Dec. 6, 1996. We were 187 nm (346 km) above the shores of the Red Sea near the Afar Triangle, where the Red Sea enters the Gulf of Aden. Nabro is a stratovolcano in the Southern Red Sea Region of Eritrea. It is located at the south-east end of the Danakil Alps in the Danakil Depression. Before its 2011 eruption, the volcano was widely believed to be extinct. North is at the top of this image. Its twin calderas are at lower left; the 7,721-foot mountain has erupted black, basaltic lava flows from its caldera and flanks.

Part of the Afar Triangle, the Nabro Volcano is one of many volcanic caldera complexes in the northeasternmost part of the East African Rift valley region. The twin calderas likely formed during an eruption of about 20 to 100 cubic kilometres consisting of ignimbrite, although the date of their formation is unknown.

Until June 2011, Nabro had not erupted in recorded history, but an eruption from the caldera on June 13 that year produced a high-altitude ash cloud, and sent a basalt flow to the northwest of the caldera and killed several residents of this arid region. (posted Jan. 11, 2019)

Our Columbia crew was 187 nautical miles over the island of Hawaii, the Big Island, when we snapped this 250mm Hasselblad photo on Nov. 25, 1996. This view captures the summits of both of the island’s tallest volcanoes, Mauna Loa on the south (bottom), and Mauna Kea on the north, at right center with a tiny cluster of white clouds at its 13,803-foot (4207-meter) summit. In our view of the western half of Hawaii Island, volcanic smog from Kilauea (under the clouds to the right) swirls off the western shore, surrounding white clouds on the shoreline.

Hualalai volcano, with a summit at 8,271 feet, is at center left in this photo, dotted by cinder cones on its flanks. The Kailua-Kona airport is visible at the western tip of the island, surrounded by Hualalai lava flows from the early 1800s. The Kohala peninsula, the oldest dormant volcano on Hawaii, stretches northwest, its windward coast under cloud cover.

I particularly like this photo because under magnification, Mauna Kea’s summit (over 10,000 meters above the sea floor, and thus the world’s tallest mountain–but not the most massive) shows several of the observatories sited above most of the water vapor in the atmosphere. I used NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility there in the late 1980s to search for water on asteroid surfaces.

More info from NASA:

Mauna Loa, or “Long Mountain,” is a volcano located on the big island of Hawai’i and is part of the Hawaiian Island chain. It is the world’s largest active volcano rising 13,680 feet above sea level. It is a shield volcano with a volume of approximately 18,000 cubic miles…With its summit standing roughly 17 km (56,000 feet) above its base and its flanks covering about half of the Island of Hawai‘i, Mauna Loa is the world’s largest volcano. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Mauna Loa’s peak rises roughly 4 km above sea level, its flanks slope downward another 5 km to the ocean floor, and then it is so massive it compresses the sea floor another 8 km!

Mauna Loa has erupted more than 35 times since the island was first visited by westerners in the early 1800s. The large summit crater, called Mokuaweoweo Caldera, is clearly visible near the center of the image. Leading away from the caldera (towards top right and lower center) are the two main rift zones. Rift zones are areas of weakness within the upper part of the volcano that are often ripped open as new magma (molten rock) approaches the surface at the start of an eruption. The most recent eruption of Mauna Loa was in March and April 1984, when segments of the northeast rift zones were active.

If the height of the volcano was measured from its base on the ocean floor instead of from sea level, Mauna Loa would be the tallest mountain on Earth. Its peak (center of the image) rises more than 8 kilometers (5 miles) above the ocean floor. The South Kona District, known for cultivation of macadamia nuts and coffee, can be seen on the left. North is toward the top. Mauna Loa presents a future hazard to the local towns of Hilo and Kona. The Kilauea volcano is located off to the right of Mauna Loa and is not visible in this image.

 

(added Dec. 11, 2018) Our crew shot this 250mm Hasselblad image of Midway atoll in the central Pacific (“midway” between San Francisco and Tokyo) on Nov. 23, 1996, from an altitude of 189 nautical miles (350 km). I was always on the lookout for Midway due to its significance in WWII. Our photo shows Sand Island on the west, Eastern Island on the right, and the protected lagoon with its shipping channels cut through the coral and sand. As NASA points out:

Like tiny pearls floating in a vast sea, the tiny islands and atolls of the North Pacific Ocean can be difficult to view from space as they sit in the deep blue expanse of the North Pacific Ocean.

…Midway’s beautiful blue and silver coloration is not from the land mass, but from the coral reef ringing the island. At the highest resolution, the scant 6.2 square km of land appears tan. Sand Island is the largest island and sits to the west of second largest island in the atoll, Eastern Island. At its peak, the land only rises only 13 meters above sea level.

Midway Atoll is just 150 miles east of the International Dateline, making it truly midway around the world from the Greenwich meridian. It sits on the far northern end of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, and is the only atoll or island in the Hawaiian archipelago not part of the State of Hawaii. In 1988, Midway became a National Wildlife Refuge and is now administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The rich waters and bits of land that make up Midway Atoll provide a home for a wide variety of species. A complex community of invertebrates and coral reef fishes thrive in the protected lagoon and in the reefs. An estimated 3 million individual birds of at least 21 species nest on the tiny islands, filling nearly every square inch of available habitat. The beaches provide nursing grounds for the endangered Hawaiian monk seals, and a place for threatened green turtles to haul out for a much needed rest.

On June 4, 1942, Midway was attacked by Japanese Admiral Yamamoto’s Imperial Combined Fleet in an attempt to lure the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carriers to their destruction. Japanese strike aircraft bombed the aircraft hangars, command post, and fortifications, but did not put the airfield out of operation (they hoped to capture it for their own use). During a desperate series of air battles, three U.S. carriers surprised the Japanese carrier striking force and sank all four of its fleet carriers by the end of the day. The U.S. Navy lost the carrier Yorktown to air and submarine attack, but the destruction of the Japanese fleet’s air striking arm forced its withdrawal, and marked the end of Japanese expansion in the Pacific.

Despite its historical importance and some remaining WWII structures (and a long runway on Sand Island) tourism to Midway is not currently permitted by the U.S. government:

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/

I urge the Fish and Wildlife Service will reopen this important site to tourism.

(Added 12/6/18) East of Mt. Everest near the borders of Tibet, Bhutan, and China, we on Columbia caught an early morning view of Jomolhari, at the center of our telephoto Hasselblad shot. Its long shadow is what caught my eye, as did the shadows thrown by this entire range. Adjacent to the right is the slightly lower peak of Jichu Drake, feeding a glacier stretching east. North is to upper right. Jomolhari reaches 24,035 feet MSL.

From Wikipedia: “Jomolhari is sometimes known as “the bride of Kangchenjunga,” the world’s third tallest mountain. Jomolhari’s north face rises over 2,700 metres (8,900 ft) above the barren plains. It’s the source of the Paro Chu (Paro river) which flows from the south side and the Amo Chu which flows from the north side.”

That lake at right center is called Duoqing Co., and just to the southeast runs another line of jagged, saw-toothed peaks. What a vantage point we had!

 

(Edited Dec. 5, 2018) Soaring eastward over the vast Sahara, we enjoyed repeated views of the exposed sands and bedrock of this arid region, laid bare by the lack of vegetation. Here is our crew’s 250mm Hasselblad telephoto shot of the Emi Koussi volcanic summit in Chad.

According to NASA, the broad Emi Koussi volcano is a shield volcano located in northern Chad, at the south-eastern end of the Tibesti Range. The dark volcanic rocks of the volcano provide a sharp contrast to the underlying tan and light brown sandstone exposed to the west, south, and east (image lower left, lower right, and upper right). This astronaut photograph highlights the entire volcanic structure. At 3,415 meters above sea level, Emi Koussi is the highest summit of Africa’s Sahara region. The summit includes three calderas formed by powerful eruptions. Two older and overlapping calderas form a depression approximately 12 kilometres by 15 kilometres in area bounded by a distinct rim (image centre). The youngest and smallest caldera, Era Kohor, formed as a result of eruptive activity within the past 2 million years.

Although the volcano hasn’t erupted in recorded history, there are recent lava flows on the flanks of the mountain, and hot springs and fumaroles are still active at its foot. Emi Koussi reminds me of some of Mars’ ancient shield volcanoes.

(Dec. 6, 2017 entry:)

Twenty-one years ago, my Columbia crewmates (Ken Cockrell, Tammy Jernigan, Story Musgrave, and Kent Rominger) and I were still a day away from landing in Florida, and snapping Earth photos as fast as our index fingers could hit the shutter button. This Hasselblad 70mm photo was taken on Nov. 28, 1996 as we soared over the Arabian peninsula. This region of the Middle East is one of the most recognizable landscapes seen from space, thanks to its unique geographical features. Here’s the NASA caption:

A view to the west showing Asia in the foreground and Africa in the background, as photographed by the space shuttle Columbia crewmembers. The Mediterranean Sea is to the upper right and the Red Sea to the lower left. Sinai Peninsula is between the two with the Gulf of Suez above and the Gulf of Aqaba below. The Suez Canal connects the Gulf of Suez with the Mediterranean Sea. The triangular shaped dark area beyond is the Nile River Delta. The thin green fertile valley of the Nile crosses the photograph from a point at Cairo (near dark triangle area) past the great bend at Luxor with Thebes and the Valley of the Kings, and on the left into the Nubian Desert with the Aswan High Dam at the very left edge of the photograph. To the horizon is the Western Desert of Egypt and Libya. The foreground is the northwest portion of Saudi Arabia, an area known as the Hejaz with the southern portions of Israel and Jordan to the lower right. (NASA STS080-745-004)

**

(Nov. 27, 2017) As winter comes on here on the US East Coast, it’s easy to imagine the attractions of the warm, sun-kissed beaches of Hawaii. Twenty-one years ago on Columbia, STS-80, my crew gazed down at the island of Oahu–and wished we could just spiral down for a few days of relaxation. Here’s the NASA caption (modified by me to fit this “north at top” image):

The capital of the state of Hawaii was photographed by the crew members aboard the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Columbia on Nov.25, 1996. North is at top. The western portion (left part of photograph) of the well eroded extinct volcano is quite visible under clear skies. The northeastern coastal area and Koolau Range of mountains, which runs the length of the island (30 miles) are cloud-covered. This is the windward side of the island (great for surfing) and the warm moist Pacific winds sweep up the mountains thus causing the clouds and an unusually high rainfall. The city of Honolulu is along the lower right side with the Honolulu International Airport clearly seen. To the left of the airport is the narrow entrance to Pearl Harbor and nearby Hickam Air Force Base. The narrow sand beaches of the Waikiki Beach resort area, just left of Diamond Head – on the lower right, appear as narrow white lines along the coast to the right of the airport and port of Honolulu. The sharp point at the leftmost portion of the photo is Kaena Point. The cliffs there are so steep that there is no developed roadway, although a narrow gauge railway was carved into the cliffs and operated the first half of the century. (NASA STS080-758-065)

Aloha!

***

A keeper: Mount Everest is the pyramidal peak at center, at the end of the longer arm of the V-shaped valley at bottom center. Tibet is to the bottom (north), with Nepal at top, beyond Everest. Rongbuk Glacier flows to the north (bottom) while Khumbu Glacier flows to the south from Mount Everest. Many other glaciers are visible. The snow level is about 4,000 meters south of the divide or crest, and about 6,000 meters north of the divide (bottom of image), in the rain shadow. We always used the V-shaped valley as a pointer to find Everest from our orbital vantage point, 220 nautical miles up. (NASA STS080-733-001–19 Nov.-7 Dec. 1996)

My Key West entry comes 21 years after our STS-80 flight aboard Columbia: 18 days of complex satellite operations and maneuvers, coupled with outstanding opportunities for Earth photography.

I’ve been to Key West several times; the city is now in the middle of its recovery from Hurricane Irma in 2017. The Keys and their surrounding waters are one of an astronaut’s favorite terrestrial landmarks. Haven’t had my last visit to the Keys, or its fresh seafood restaurants and Cuban-style coffee.

NASA caption: The view shows the city of Key West, bottom mid-right, with Marathon Key, near top middle left, and the edge of the Straits of Florida, the dark water on the right edge. Clouds form over the cooler waters of the strait. The runways at Boca Chica Key Naval Air Station are seen near Key West. The bottom can be seen clearly in the shallow water, the deeper water has depths of over a half a mile. The thin line of the Overseas Highway can be traced east from Key West. Prior to a hurricane in 1935, this route was a railway line.

www.AstronautTomJones.com

The Pic Tousside volcano on the Tibesti Plateau in northern Chad, photographed from STS-80, Columbia. (NASA sts080-722-13)Crossing the Sahara wastes in orbit on Columbia, our crew captured this view of the Pic Tousside volcano, using a 250mm lens on a Hasselblad 70mm film camera. The volcano is an eye-catching landmark on the way from Morocco to the Nile Valley. Note the numerous cinder cones at the top of the photo on the mountain slopes; the black basalt lava flows are running downhill, of course.

NASA’s Earth Observatory site says the following:

The Tibesti Mountain Range in northern Chad is one of the world’s least-studied volcanic regions. A look at the area from space, however, must intrigue volcanologists. One of the Tibesti Mountain’s features is Tarso Toussidé.

Looking like the result of a giant inkwell tipped on its side, Tarso Toussidé underwent a violent eruption in the recent geologic past, and the remains of that eruption have stained the ground black. The volcano ejected tephra, fragments of rock and volcanic glass, lava, and ash. Tephra does not last on the landscape as long as consolidated volcanic rocks such as tuff or lava, so the presence of tephra suggests fairly recent activity. In the middle of the field of dark tephra is Pic Toussidé, a lava dome poking out of the current caldera.

Volcanoes often sport multiple calderas, particularly as the primary site for eruptive activity shifts over time. East of Pic Toussidé are two calderas, the southern one bearing a white splotch roughly 2 kilometers long. This white color could result from salt. Water pooling in the caldera would not have an outlet, and as the water evaporated, minerals such as salt would be left behind.

www.AstronautTomJones.com

My Columbia crewmates and I took this shot on STS-80 with a 70mm Hasselblad film camera using a 100mm lens. On December 5, 1996, our altitude over the northeastern plains of India was about 185 nm. Master geologist and astronaut instructor Bill Muehlberger wrote the caption above; Bill helped teach the Apollo astronauts their geology skills, and he took my Hairball astronaut class to the field in New Mexico to teach similar lessons. At the southern base of the Himalaya (bottom center) is the Brahmaputra River, flowing from east to west (right to left) on its way to join the Ganges. The Brahmaputra River (also called as “Burlung-Buthur” by the Bodo people of Assam), called Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan language, originates on the Chemayungdung Glacier located on the northern side of the Himalayas in Tibet. The river is 3,848 km (2,391 mi) long. The river flows around and through the eastern ranges of the Himalaya and returns in the lower part of the photo, flowing to the west, to join the Ganges.

The Tibetan Plateau is the tan area at upper left. The spidery lake at left edge of the photo is Yamzha Yumco. Lhasa, Tibet lies just to the north. The Jiali tectonic fault slashes across Tibet from upper left to right. At far right center, the Brahmaputra emerges from the mountain front and carries an immense load of silt and sand toward the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean. Geologists estimate that the Brahmaputra transports approximately 13 million tons of suspended sediment per day during floods. This is one corner of the world where erosion is tearing the Himalaya down almost as fast as they are pushed skyward.

This STS-80 Columbia image, shot with a 250mm lens on a Hasselblad 70mm body, shows one of our favorite Sahara targets, the Aorounga impact crater, which may be a chain of 3 circular impact craters. Radar images from STS-59, Space Radar Lab 1 (April 1994, my first mission), revealed what looks like two smaller craters to the northeast. This entire frame is about 25 miles across.

From NASA’s Earth Observatory: Aorounga Impact Crater is located in the Sahara Desert, in north-central Chad, and is one of the best-preserved impact structures in the world. The crater is thought to be middle or upper Devonian to lower Mississippian (approximately 345–370 million years old) based on the age of the sedimentary rocks deformed by the impact. Spaceborne Imaging Radar (SIR) data collected in 1994 suggests that Aorounga is one of a set of three craters formed by the same impact event. The other two suggested impact structures are buried by sand deposits.

The concentric ring structure of the Aorounga crater—renamed Aorounga South in the multiple-crater interpretation of SIR data—is clearly visible in this detailed astronaut photograph. The central highland, or peak, of the crater is surrounded by a small sand-filled trough; this in turn is surrounded by a larger circular trough. Linear rock ridges alternating with light orange sand deposits cross the image from upper left to lower right; these are called yardangs by geomorphologists. Yardangs form by wind erosion of exposed rock layers in a unidirectional wind field. The wind blows from the northeast at Aorounga, and sand dunes formed between the yardangs are actively migrating to the southwest.

 

We took this image from Columbia on November 24, 1996, from an altitude of 188 nautical miles. Mount Pinatubo is an active stratovolcano on the island of Luzon, in the Philippines. On all my flights (which all came after the 1991 eruption), I’ve observed the downhill migration of volcanic ash from the summit and its crater lake. The crater lake and mud flows are seen very well here, after the 1996 monsoon season. Note the now-closed Clark Air Force Base (and now reopened commercial airport) on the plains at lower right.

From Wikipedia: Before 1992, Pinatubo was heavily eroded, inconspicuous, and obscured from view. It was covered with dense forest which supported a population of several thousand indigenous Aetas people.

The volcano’s eruption on June 15, 1991 produced the second largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century (after the 1912 eruption of Novarupta in the Alaska Peninsula). Complicating the eruption was the arrival of Typhoon Yunya (Diding), bringing a lethal mix of ash and rain to areas surrounding the volcano. Predictions at the onset of the climactic eruption led to the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from the surrounding areas, saving many lives. Surrounding areas were severely damaged by pyroclastic flows, ash deposits, and, subsequently, by the lahars caused by rainwaters re-mobilizing earlier volcanic deposits. This caused extensive destruction to infrastructure and changed river systems for years after the eruption.

The volcano’s Plinian / Ultra-Plinian eruption on June 15, 1991 produced the second largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century after the 1912 eruption of Novarupta in the Alaska Peninsula.^[6] Complicating the eruption was the arrival of Typhoon Yunya (Diding), bringing a lethal mix of ash and rain to areas surrounding the volcano. Predictions at the onset of the climactic eruption led to the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from the surrounding areas, saving many lives. Surrounding areas were severely damaged by pyroclastic flows, ash deposits, and, subsequently, by the lahars caused by rainwaters re-mobilizing earlier volcanic deposits. This caused extensive destruction to infrastructure and changed river systems for years after the eruption.^[6][7]

NASA text by my colleague, volcanologist Dr. Cindy Evans: In early 1991, Mt. Pinatubo, a volcano north of Manila on the Philippine island of Luzon, had been dormant for more than 500 years. Few geologists would have guessed that it would produce one of the world’s most explosive eruptions in the twentieth century. Indications of unrest started a few months before the June 1991 eruption, but the size and impact of the eruption were completely unexpected. During the June 12-15 eruptive climax, the top of the mountain was blown off, lowering the elevation by roughly 150 m. About 8 to 10 km² of material (Scott, et al., 1996) spewed out of the volcano onto the surrounding slopes. The eruption forced evacuation of more than 50,000 people, and effectively shut down two major US military bases (Clark Air Force Base and Subic Bay Naval Base); it was ultimately responsible for taking several hundred human lives.

Before the eruption, Mt. Pinatubo was a forested, deeply dissected and unimposing mountain on Luzon’s Bataan Peninsula. Although the upper slopes were steep and not well suited for agriculture, the lower slopes were heavily populated and supported extensive rice fields.

During the eruption, the upper slopes of the mountain suffered immediate destruction. The climactic explosions of June 14–16, 1991, blasted away the summit of Pinatubo, blew down surrounding forests, and rained hundreds of cubic meters of loose sand and gravel down on the mountain’s upper slopes. Floods of hot volcanic slurries were responsible for long-lasting damage downslope.

Astronauts did not observe the June 1991 eruption of the volcano—but they have routinely monitored subsequent changes around Mt. Pinatubo. The eruption had two major environmental effects which are readily documented from low-Earth orbit: the distribution of vast quantities of sulfur dioxide aerosols into the stratosphere; and the post-eruption mudflows, or lahars, which are recognized as the major natural hazard from the eruption.

This  image of Ayers Rock and the Olgas (Uluru and Kata Tjuta) and the surrounding terrain was captured by the crew of space shuttle Columbia during the STS-80 mission; it was taken on Dec. 6, 1996, from an altitude of 202 nautical miles.  We always looked for a chance to shoot Uluru on our passes over Australia, and this was a particularly nice pass, captured with a 100mm Hasselblad lens on 70mm film. I trained for both my Space Radar Lab missions at Ayers Rock and the Olgas with a NASA team flying the agency’s DC-8 aircraft out of nearby Alice Springs. Fellow STS-59 astronaut Linda Godwin and I drove 5 hours from Alice Springs to visit these famous rock formations. In this image, Uluru is at right, with Kata Tjuta and its highest promontory, Mt. Olga, on the left. Lake Amadeus is at top.

From NASA’s “Visible Earth” website: Seen from ground level, this majestic sandstone rock formation stands 348 meters (1,120 feet) tall and is 3 kilometers (1.85 miles) long. Uluru is the ancient name used by Indigenous Australians; Ayers Rock is the name that was given to the landform by explorer William Christie Gosse in the 1800s. Uluru is one of Australia’s major tourist attractions (more than 270,000 visitors in 2014), with operations run by people from the small town of Mutitjulu. A 16-kilometer (10-mile) road circles the rock, and a disused airstrip lies near the town.

Uluru and a similar striking landform known as Kata Tjuta (Mount Olga) are part of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, created as a UNESCO site in 1994 for cultural preservation and protection. Uluru and Kata Tjuta are remnants of sediments eroded from an ancient mountain range that existed about 550 million years ago. The sediments were subsequently buried and compressed to form harder rocks—called arkose and conglomerate by geologists. These rocks were later tilted from their original horizontal orientation by powerful tectonic forces. Views from above now clearly show the hundreds of originally flat-lying layers that make up Uluru. Softer and younger sedimentary rocks were then eroded away, leaving the more resistant rocks exposed to form the present-day landforms.

Uluru is thought by native peoples to have been created by ancestral beings during the Dreamtime, which has been described as the essence of aboriginal culture and spirituality. The rock is regarded as one of the ancestors’ most impressive pieces of work. Ancient paintings throughout its caves and fissures describe this relationship, keeping Dreamtime traditions alive. The proximity of the Mutitjulu settlement to the rock symbolizes the spiritual connection between the local people and Uluru.

From NASA’s Earth Observatory website: In the heart of the Australian Outback, a massive block of red sandstone rises up out of the near-perfect flatness of the eroded landscape. Called Uluru, or Ayer’s Rock, this giant is a monolith 348 meters (1,142 feet) high, 3.6 kilometers (2.2 miles) long, and 9.4 kilometers (5.8 miles) around. It is the largest single rock known in the world. Tourists come from all over the country and the world to watch sunrise and sunset bring the colors of the rock to life.

Centered in the scene, Uluru appears a more subdued orange-red than the surrounding desert soils. These reddish soils and their location in the heart of the Outback give rise to the region’s nickname as Australia’s “Red Center.” Trees and other vegetation surround the base of the rock, giving the impression of streams of turquoise waters flowing out of the rock. The rock is carved and scoured by eons of erosion by wind and water. To the Aboriginal people, many of these features are part of the religious mythology through which they describe their existence and history in the region.

…Located in the Northern Territory of Australia, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park hosts some of the world’s most spectacular examples of inselbergs, or isolated mountains. The most famous of these inselbergs is Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock). An equally massive inselberg located approximately 30 kilometers (20 miles) to the northwest is known as Kata Tjuta. Like Uluru, this is a sacred site to the native Anangu or Aboriginal people. An English-born explorer named the highest peak Mount Olga, with the entire grouping of rocks informally known as “the Olgas.” Mount Olga has a peak elevation of 1,069 meters (3,507 feet) above sea level, making it 206 meters (676 feet) higher than Uluru.

Kata Tjuta is comprised of gently dipping Mount Currie Conglomerate, a sedimentary rock that includes rounded fragments of other rock types (here, primarily granite with less abundant basalt and rhyolite in a coarse sandy matrix). Geologists interpret the Mount Currie Conglomerate as a remnant of a large fan of material rapidly eroded from mountains uplifted approximately 550 million years ago. Subsequent burial under younger sediments consolidated the eroded materials to form the conglomerate exposed at the surface today.

Runways of the shuttle landing facility (top center) and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s “Skid Strip” (near the tip of Cape Canaveral) are visible. At top center are the shuttle launch pads, 39A and 39B; we launched from Pad 39B (northernmost/topmost pad). Indian River is at left, the Banana River at right, next to the Cape. The old ICBM Row launch pads (Mercury and Gemini) are clearly visible north of Cape Canaveral. I left Earth four times from this place–pretty special.

Monterrey is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, in Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey is located in northeast Mexico, at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental.

Monterrey Image Caption (NASA): Potrero Garcia and Potrero La Mula are breached salt-cored folds immediately north of the Sierra Madre Oriental and Monterrey. [Portrero Garcia is the triangular formation at upper left.–TJ] Individual limestone layers can be resolved in this beautifully detailed view, as can the tilt of the layers outward from the center of the fold (anticline). Most of the salt has been eroded from the core of the structure, but what remains is now being mined. In Las Grutas de Garcia (Garcia Caverns) the limestone bedrock has been dissolved and both limestone and gypsum formations decorate the cave.

Our STS-80 crew took this shot of Great Exuma Island and the Tongue of the Ocean on Dec. 3, 1996, from 185 nautical miles above the Bahamas. This is one of the loveliest ocean areas visible to orbiting astronauts.

A NASA caption says:  This extraordinary image captures the meeting place of the deep waters of the Tongue of the Ocean and the much shallower, completely submerged Grand Bahama Bank. This platform reef drops off quickly into the branch of the Great Bahama submarine canyon that because of its shape is called the Tongue of the Ocean. The vertical rock walls of the Canyon rise 14,060 feet from their greatest depth to the surrounding seabed, which is why the water is so dark in color compared to the reef. The shallowest parts of the reef are no more than three to seven feet deep; so shallow, in fact, that in the northeast corner of the image you can zoom in and see large wave-sized ripples of sand on the bottom. Like so many other biological structures, the ribbon-like form of the reef maximizes surface area and thus the number of organisms that can colonize the structure. The closest land is the Bahama Islands of Great Exuma, less than 16 miles to the east [right side of the image], and Andros about 27 miles to the west.

 

Another look at the Bahamas, this time Eleuthera Island. We were always captivated by the deep, indigo waters of the abyss surrounding the calcium carbonate coral sands of the shallows surrounding the islands. I hope to stand someday on an Eleuthera beach.

From NASA:  Turquoise, deep green, light blue, and bright sapphire blue colors combine in the waters surrounding the Bahamas to stand out against the deeper blue of the Atlantic Ocean. Because the 700 islands and islets sit on an underwater plateaus (called “banks”), the waters of the Bahamas are very shallow, ranging from barely covering the ocean floor to 25 meters in depth. (NASA)

East of southern Florida, large swaths of ocean water glow peacock blue. These waters owe their iridescence to their shallow depths. Near Florida and Cuba, the underwater terrain is hilly, and the crests of many of these hills comprise the islands of the Bahamas.  The varied colors of these banks suggest their surfaces are somewhat uneven. The banks’ distinct contours, sharply outlined in dark blue, indicate that the ocean floor drops dramatically around them. In fact, over the banks, the water depth is often less than 10 meters (33 feet), but the surrounding basin plunges to depths as low as 4,000 meters (13,100 feet). (NASA)

Eleuthera is approximately 150 km long from north to south and, except for the northern and southern ends, is an average of 3-5 km wide. The countryside primarily consists of rolling hills and valleys studded with tranquil lakes and woodlands. The coasts alternate between high steep cliffs and beautify beaches. (Thomas M. Iliffe — Texas A&M University at Galveston)

 

From 187 nautical miles up, our Columbia crew imaged the island of Maui and Kahoolawe (lower left) on Nov. 25, 1996. Lanai is to the far left. The West Maui volcano is under clouds, but the sharply incised ravines running down to Lahaina and Kanaapali Beach show how much rainfall the mountain intercepts. Central Maui is clear, as are the resorts along the west-facing South Maui coast. Kahului airport is visible on the north central coast. The green slopes of Haleakala volcano (dormant) are visible at right. Haleakala National Park includes the volcano’s summit, at about 10,000 feet. A line of cinder cones follows the southwest rift zone up to the summit; darker, more recent lava flows mark the site of the most recent eruption on Maui, just before 1800 on the southwest tip of the island opposite Kaho’olawe. Haleakala’s summit caldera has been heavily eroded by heavy rains, creating a wide summit valley that drains both to the south, north, and east.

NASA’s Earth Observatory says:

In 1907, writer Jack London scaled a towering mountain in eastern Maui, the second largest of the Hawaiian Islands. When he reached the top and looked east, he was confronted with an otherworldly scene. “Far above us was the heaven-towering horizon, and far beneath us, where the top of the mountain peak should have been, was a deeper deep, the great crater, the House of the Sun,” London wrote. “The tie-ribs of earth lay bare before us. It was a workshop of nature still cluttered with the raw beginnings of world-making.”

That is not to say the area is not rich with signs of volcanic activity. “This floor, broken by lava flows, and cinder cones, was as red and fresh and uneroded as if were but yesterday that the fires went out,” London noted. “The cinder-cones, the smallest over four-hundred feet in height and the largest over nine-hundred, seemed no more than puny little sand hills, so mighty was the magnitude of the setting.”

…There is less vegetation in the valley—which comprises much of the national park—than to the north and east of the mountain because the valley lies in a rain shadow. Prevailing winds drop rain on the eastern and northern sides of the mountains because moisture gets squeezed from the air as it flows up and over the slopes. The cinder cones—steep conical hills around volcanic vents—appear as small mounds in the middle of the valley.

While London was correct that the lava flows are young, his time scale was a bit off. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, radiocarbon dating suggestions that the most recent eruption occurred between 1480 and 1600. The oldest exposed flows are 1.1 million years old, though geologists think the shield volcano began building itself up about two million years ago.

Haleakalā National Park was created on August 1, 1916, as part of Hawaii National Park. At that time, the park also included Kilauea and Mauna Loa. However, in 1961, the volcanoes of Hawaii and Maui were separated into different parks. The name Haleakalā is Hawaiian for “House of the Sun.” In Hawaiian mythology, a god named Maui climbed the mountain and lassoed the Sun’s rays to lengthen the day.

Our photo from STS-80 shows the lower tip of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. Mt.Sinai is just to the right of upper center amid a welter of crustal faults. Mount Sinai is a 2,285-metre (7,497 ft) moderately high mountain near the city of Saint Catherine in the Sinai region. It is next to Mount Catherine (at 2,629 m or 8,625 ft, the highest peak in Egypt). It is surrounded on all sides by higher peaks of the mountain range. (Wiki) North is at top right.

From NASA’s caption: Low sun angle and excellent focus reveal details of three prominent sets of faults and fractures (and subordinate ones) in the 500-600-million-year-old bedrock of the Sinai Peninsula. Displacement as great as 4000 m is documented on faults in the southwest. Younger, more northerly faults crosscut those of northeasterly and northwesterly trend; the younger faults reflect a change in the direction of extension in the Red Sea rift from NE (55 degrees) at ~25 million years ago to almost N (10-20 degrees) at present.

When our two spacewalks were cancelled on STS-80 due to a jammed hatch, we were at least partially compensated with two loosely scheduled days in our flight plan. We took full advantage of our Earth viewing opportunities and captured scenes like the one above. “Serenity” would be a good adjective for the feeling evoked by memories of this view.

NASA’s caption reads: STS080-759-075 (19 Nov.-7 Dec. 1996) — This 70mm handheld camera’s panoramic view was photographed by the STS-80 crewmembers to capture the aesthetic side of space travel. The scene was in the South Pacific Ocean southwest of Hawaii and west of Christmas Island. The viewing angle from the space shuttle Columbia and the sunglint phenomenon gives the picture an almost three-dimensional effect.

 

Our nearly 18 days in space gave us a chance to watch the moon cycle through over half its orbit around Earth. From the flight deck windows, the moon to us seemed close enough to touch. I think we will finally see Americans and our partners return to the moon’s surface within a decade, perhaps by 2027.

NASA caption: STS080-759-038 (19 Nov.-7 Dec. 1996) — As photographed by the crewmembers aboard the space shuttle Columbia, a full moon is about to set beyond the limb of Earth. A full moon should be round but when it is near the limb, or edge of Earth, the atmosphere tends to distort the shape. The atmosphere, stratosphere, ionosphere is in reality acting as a lens, thus the distorted shape of the Moon. As the Moon reaches the Earth’s horizon it will become “egg shaped”.

Our STS-80 crew obtained this photo of the Nile Valley and the Egyptian capital of Cairo, at bottom center. The arrow I’ve added points to the small, lighter patch of desert where the three great pyramids of Giza are located. Cairo is the gray urban area stretching right across the Nile flood plain to the main river channel. I can recall searching diligently for the pyramids with my telephoto lens, but never being quite sure I’d nailed them. If you zoom in on this digital image, you can make out the shadows of the two largest pyramids, those of Khufu and Khafre. ISS crews today get much better photos with their digital cameras and 80mm zoom lenses. This shot was taken on 35mm film with a 400mm lens.

NASA captions: The Great Pyramids at Giza are the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and perhaps the most famous of the ancient monuments in the Nile River Delta of Egypt. They are also a favorite subject of photography from orbit. It is a short distance between the glories of ancient Egypt and the modern Cairo metropolitan area to the north and east. The buildings and streets of El Giza provide stark contrast to the bare rock and soil of the adjacent desert.

Giza is a royal burial place, commissioned and built by pharaohs during the fourth dynasty around 2550 BC. Started by Khufu, continued by his son Khafre (Khafre pyramid and the Sphinx), and later by his son, Menkaure, the complex also includes many tombs and temples for queens, other members of royal families, and royal attendants.

Today, Giza is a rapidly growing region of Cairo. Population growth in Egypt continues to soar, leading to new construction. New roads for large new developments are obvious in the desert hills northwest and southwest of the pyramids. Documenting patterns of urban growth around the world is a prime science objective for astronaut photography, now from the Space Station.

AstronautTomJones.com