I’m compiling here a few of my favorite Earth images from my second mission, STS-68, flown on Endeavour, carrying Space Radar Lab 2. This Earth-imaging radar sensor package, combined with a carbon monoxide pollution sensor, was a joint project of NASA and the German and Italian space agencies.

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Added 11/1/19

The Bay of Naples, Italy.  Oct. 10, 1994: We’re on Endeavour (STS-68) over the Tyrrhenian Sea, west of Italy, looking down on the Bay of Naples and Mt. Vesuvius. That’s Isla Ischia on the left, and Capri, the smaller island, on the lower right. Naples and its 3 million people lie on the left of the bay, to the northwest of Vesuvius. Herculaneum is almost directly below Vesuvius on the coast (where the town was buried by a pyroclastic flow in AD 79). Pompeii lies farther along the bay shore to the right. The circular depressions to the far left of the bay, near the sea, are the Phlegrean Fields, part of the caldera that makes up the bay region, near the town of Pozzuoli. All of the Bay of Naples is part of this half-drowned caldera; Vesuvius is just one active region on the rim. On the peninsula to the right, in the circular bay, is Sorrento (full of lemon trees!). Sorrento has superb views of Vesuvius and the Bay.
Naples is built on layers of history, and the towns buried by Vesuvius are a treasure trove of ancient Roman life. Take the Circumvesuviano commuter rail from Naples over to Herculaneum and Pompeii–it’s a memorable visit.

Mt. Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples on Italy’s west coast. (NASA STS068-259-055)

And here is our complementary radar view of Vesuvius and Naples:

Radar image of the Bay of Naples from SRL-1, April 1994. (NASA JPL P-45742)

Mt. Vesuvius, one of the best known volcanoes in the world primarily for the eruption that buried the Roman city of Pompeii, is shown in the lower center of this radar image. North is to the left. The central cone of Vesuvius is the dark purple feature in the center of the volcano. This cone is surrounded on the northern and eastern sides by the old crater rim, called Mt. Somma. Recent lava flows are the pale yellow areas on the southern and western sides of the cone. Vesuvius is part of a large volcanic zone which includes the Phalagrean Fields, the cluster of craters seen along the lower left center of the image. The Bay of Naples, on the bottom of the image, is separated from the Gulf of Salerno, in the lower right, by the Sorrento Peninsula. Dense urban settlement can be seen around the volcano. The city of Naples is below and to the left of Vesuvius; the seaport of the city can be seen in the north half of the bay. Pompeii is located just to the right of the volcano on this image. The rapid eruption in 79 A.D. buried the victims and buildings of Pompeii under several meters of debris and killed more than 2,000 people. Due to the violent eruptive style and proximity to populated areas, Vesuvius has been named by the international scientific community as one of fifteen Decade Volcanoes which are being intensively studied during the 1990s. The image is centered at 40.83 degrees North latitude, 14.53 degrees East longitude. It shows an area 100 kilometers by 55 kilometers (62 miles by 34 miles.) This image was acquired on April 15, 1994 by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR- C/X-SAR) aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. SIR-C/X-SAR, a joint mission of the German, Italian and the United States space agencies, is part of NASA’s
P-45742 July 13, 1995

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added 10/30/19

Endeavour and her STS-68 crew were 118 nautical miles above the Sahara, looking north, when we took this image of the Tifernine dune field on Oct. 3, 1994, using a 40mm lens on a Hasselblad film camera. Except for a few too many clouds, you’d think we were over the ruddy sands of Mars. The orange, arrowhead-shaped Tifernine dunes are one of the major Sahara landmarks visible to orbiting astronauts.

Tifernine Dune field of the Sahara, in southern Algeria. (NASA STS068-228-081)

NASA writes: The Tifernine Dune Field is located at the southernmost tip of the Grand Erg Oriental, a “dune sea” that occupies a large portion of the Sahara Desert in eastern Algeria. This astronaut photograph illustrates the interface between the yellow-orange sand dunes of the field and dark brown consolidated rocks of the Tinrhert Plateau to the south and east. The Tifernine at the center of this image is about 800 miles south-southeast of Algiers, the capital of Algeria. The dunes are in excess of 1,000 feet in height.

The oldest landform is represented by the rocks of the Tinrhert Plateau, where numerous channels incise the bedrock; these channels were eroded during a wet and cool climate period, most probably by glacial meltwater streams. As the dry and hot climate that characterizes the Sahara today became established, water ceased to flow in these channels. Winds eroded and moved large amounts of drying sediment (sand, silt, and clay), which piled up in large, linear dunes that roughly parallel the direction of the prevailing winds of the time (image center).

The present climate is still hot and dry, but current wind directions are more variable. The variable winds are modifying the older, linear dunes, creating star dunes, recognizable by a starfish-like pattern when seen from above.

See more Earth views from STS-68 as I add to my blog, at www.AstronautTomJones.com.

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added 9/20/19

The Front Range of the Rockies from orbit. Here’s the Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, and Denver, seen from STS-68 Endeavour on Oct. 10, 1994. My crew was over the Colorado plains east of Denver when we looked south (toward upper left) and grabbed this shot. Denver is at lower right, with both the old Stapleton International Airport (near town) and the new Denver International airport runways visible at bottom right. Colorado Springs is just to the east of the white blaze of Pikes Peak at center left. The dark green comma east of the Front Range is the Black Forest, and if you look closely you can see the cadet area at USAFA, as well as Falcon Stadium in this 250mm Hasselblad shot (70mm film). The runways at Peterson Field (AFB) are easily visible east of C. Springs. The Arkansas River runs west to east from Canon City to Pueblo, to the left of Pikes Peak. I learned to fly in 1974 at the Academy airfield, barely visible near Falcon Stadium. This area’s population growth has greatly expanded both Colorado Springs and Denver.

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added 9/5/19

Flying over Hawaii was always a highlight, as the island chain is an oasis in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean. Because of their volcanic origins, the Hawaiian landscapes are dramatic, beautiful, and dynamic–the volcanoes on Hawaii Island are still building those mountains ever higher above the sea.

In this radar image from our SIR-C instrument of the Space Radar Lab, between Hickam AFB (the Honolulu Airport) at lower left, and Diamond Head at lower right is Waikiki. The crater above Waikiki at the foot of the mountains is Punchbowl, now the National Cemetery of the Pacific, with superb views of Honolulu and the graves of so many servicemen and women.

Kaneohe Bay is at top, a Marine Corps air station (see the dark blue runways on the left of the Kaneohe peninsula). Runway traces of Bellows Field, one of the WWII airfields attacked in the Pearl Harbor raid, are on the coast at upper right. Pearl Harbor is just out of view on the left, west of Hickam. Having worked on the Big Island for my asteroid telescope observations back in the 1980s, I have a long-standing affinity for our 50th state. Looking forward to our next visit to welcoming Hawaii.

Honolulu on the island of Oahu, Oct. 6, 1994. (JPL NASA: PIA01842)

JPL caption: This spaceborne radar image shows the city of Honolulu, Hawaii and adjacent areas on the island of Oahu. Honolulu lies on the south shore of the island, along the bottom of this image. Diamond Head, an extinct volcanic crater, is seen in the lower right. The bright white strip left of Diamond Head is the Waikiki Beach area. Further west are the downtown area and harbor. Runways of the airport can be seen in the lower left. The Koolau mountain range runs through the center of the image. The steep cliffs on the north side of the range are thought to be remnants of massive landslides that ripped apart the volcanic mountains that built the island thousands of years ago. On the north shore of the island are the Mokapu peninsula and Kaneohe Bay. Densely vegetated areas appear green in this radar image, while urban areas generally appear orange, red or white. Images such as this can be used by land use planners to monitor urban development and its effect on the tropical environment. The image was acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) onboard the space shuttle Endeavour on October 6, 1994.

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added 9/3/19

Here’s another STS-68 favorite as we approach the 25th anniversary of the Space Radar Lab 2 mission. We’re over Russia somewhere, early morning there, Oct. 2, 1994, looking down from Endeavour. From the aft flight deck we spotted these mountain peaks riding above a low cloud deck. Earth is such a varied and beautiful world. The location is in the Vitim Highlands, in far eastern Russia. Of course, our radar images cut right through these clouds to capture the terrain and biosphere data below, but radar cannot capture the ever-changing beauty of our home planet.

Russian mountain ridges penetrate a low, morning cloud deck on Oct. 2, 1994. (NASA STS068-227-077)

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added 8/27/19

Detroit and Lake St. Clair from STS-68 (NASA STS068-232-22)

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added 8/26/19

NASA: From the wetlands in Maryland to the nation’s capital and onto Baltimore, this 70mm photograph from the Space Shuttle Endeavour shows some details of the historic Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River area. With the rather low altitude of Endeavour at 115 nautical miles, features as small as Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium and Andrews Air Force Base are clearly seen.

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added 8/21/19

On the third day of the STS-68 mission, 10/2/94, our crew looked down from Endeavour on Indonesia and captured a rare, nearly clear view of the Tambora volcano, on the island of Sumbawa. North is to the top of our image.

Tambora volcano on the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia. (NASA STS068-151-128)

NASA: On April 10, 1815, the Tambora Volcano produced the largest eruption in recorded history. An estimated 150 cubic kilometers (36 cubic miles) of tephra—exploded rock and ash—resulted, with ash from the eruption recognized at least 1,300 kilometers (808 miles) away to the northwest. While the April 10 eruption was catastrophic, historical records and geological analysis of eruption deposits indicate that the volcano had been active between 1812 and 1815. Enough ash was put into the atmosphere from the April 10 eruption to reduce incident sunlight on the Earth’s surface, causing global cooling, which resulted in the 1816 “year without a summer.”

The huge caldera—6 kilometers (3.7 miles) in diameter and 1,100 meters (3,609 feet) deep—formed when Tambora’s estimated 4,000-meter- (13,123-foot) high peak was removed, and the magma chamber below emptied during the April 10 eruption. Today the crater floor is occupied by an ephemeral freshwater lake, recent sedimentary deposits, and minor lava flows and domes from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Active fumaroles, or steam vents, still exist in the caldera.

In 2004, scientists discovered the remains of a village, and two adults buried under approximately 3 meters (nearly 10 feet) of ash in a gully on Tambora’s flank—remnants of the former Kingdom of Tambora preserved by the 1815 eruption that destroyed it. The similarity of the Tambora remains to those associated with the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius has led to the Tambora site’s description as “the Pompeii of the East.”

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added 8/20/19

NASA: Kliuchevskoi Volcano’s major eruption began September 30, 1994 (launch day) for STS-68. It got almost immediate coverage by the astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. The eruption cloud reached 60,000 feet above sea level, and the winds carried ash as far as 640 miles southeast from the volcano into the North Pacific air routes. This picture was made with a large format Linhof camera. While astronauts used handheld camera’s to keep up with the Kamchatka event, instruments in the cargo bay of Endeavour recorded data to support the Space Radar Laboratory (SRL-2) mission.

Kliuchevskoi volcano erupting on 9/30/94. (NASA STS068-150-045)

Our wide-angle 90mm lens on the Linhof camera captured the view above. The Linhof produced a 4×5-inch film negative, with incredible detail. Each magazine held 100 frames, and we refilled magazines with fresh film inside a light-tight bag, stowing the exposed film in canisters and manually spooling a new roll into the magazine. The film reloading was part of our nightly housekeeping routine. But it was hard to tear ourselves away from the windows!

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Our Space Radar Lab 2 image of Mt. Rainier, Washington (NASA JPL P-44703)

Mt. Rainier, Washington (NASA caption)

This is a radar image of Mount Rainier in Washington state. The volcano last erupted about 150 years ago and numerous large floods and debris flows have originated on its slopes during the last century. Today the volcano is heavily mantled with glaciers and snowfields. More than 100,000 people live on young volcanic mudflows less than 10,000 years old and, consequently, are within the range of future, devastating mudslides. This image was acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C and X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on its 20th orbit on October 1, 1994. The area shown in the image is approximately 59 kilometers by 60 kilometers (36.5 miles by 37 miles). North is toward the top left of the image, which was composed by assigning red and green colors to the L-band, horizontally transmitted and vertically, and the L- band, horizontally transmitted and vertically received. Blue indicates the C-band, horizontally transmitted and vertically received. In addition to highlighting topographic slopes facing the space shuttle, SIR-C records rugged areas as brighter and smooth areas as darker. The scene was illuminated by the shuttle’s radar from the northwest so that northwest-facing slopes are brighter and southeast-facing slopes are dark. Forested regions are pale green in color; clear cuts and bare ground are bluish or purple; ice is dark green and white. The round cone at the center of the image is the 14,435-foot (4,399- meter) active volcano, Mount Rainier. On the lower slopes is a zone of rock ridges and rubble (purple to reddish) above coniferous forests (in yellow/green). The western boundary of Mount Rainier National Park is seen as a transition from protected, old-growth forest to heavily logged private land, a mosaic of recent clear cuts (bright purple/blue) and partially regrown timber plantations (pale blue). The prominent river seen curving away from the mountain at the top of the image (to the northwest) is the White River, and the river leaving the mountain at the bottom right of the image (south) is the Nisqually River, which flows out of the Nisqually glacier on the mountain. The river leaving to the left of the mountain is the Carbon River, leading west and north toward heavily populated regions near Tacoma. The dark patch at the top right of the image is Bumping Lake. Other dark areas seen to the right of ridges throughout the image are radar shadow zones. Radar images can be used to study the volcanic structure and the surrounding regions with linear rock boundaries and faults. In addition, the recovery of forested lands from natural disasters and the success of reforestation programs can also be monitored. Ultimately this data may be used to study the advance and retreat of glaciers and other forces of global change. (P-44703 October 3, 1994)

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added Aug. 20, 2019

Aurora Australis seen from STS-68 Endeavour (NASA sts068-008-029)

My Endeavour crew was awed by our night-time flights through the shifting curtains of the Aurora Australis, off the southern coasts of Australia and New Zealand. We felt like we were riding on the tip of a needle, piercing the vertical curtains of glowing green light. Our low altitude of 120 nm meant the auroral curtains rose high above us as we soared through one after another. NASA: This time exposure of the Southern Lights was photographed with a 35mm camera from 115 nautical miles above Earth by the crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavour during the Space Radar Laboratory 2 (SRL-2) mission. Due to the long exposure time, stars in the background appear smeared or elongated.

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For more of my mission information, see www.AstronautTomJones.com

This month is the 23rd anniversary of the Space Radar Lab 2 mission, STS-68. I was the payload commander, flying with my crewmates Mike Baker (CDR), Dan Bursch (MS2), Steve Smith (MS1), Terry Wilcutt (PLT), and Jeff Wisoff (MS3). An ambitious follow up to the successful STS-59, Space Radar Lab 1, SRL-2 was aimed at flying the multi-frequency, multi-polarized Shuttle Imaging Radar-C, X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar, and the Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellites sensors in the northern hemisphere late summer, to compare SRL-1’s spring mapping results to those from a contrasting season of the year. STS-68 would also test radar interferometry, a technique to create highly accurate, three-dimensional maps of Earth’s topography. (More info at www.AstronautTomJones.com)

The STS-68 crew patch. (NASA STS068-s-001)

My crewmates and I rehearsed our countdown procedures at Kennedy Space Center on August 1, 1994.

Tom Jones in his middeck seat for the STS-68 countdown rehearsal, termed TCDT. (NASA KSC94PC-966)

Seated on the far right of Endeavour’s middeck during our mock countdown on Aug. 1, 1994, my crewmember designation was MS-4. (NASA ksc-94pc-966)

Jeff Wisoff was seated to my left, close to the galley and side hatch. Note my clear helmet visor, indicating a “practice” helmet. We kept the dark visors for the real launch day, to avoid scratching them during our practice sessions like this one.

Our launch was planned on August 18, 1994, but at dawn on that date, when Endeavour’s main engines (SSMEs) ignited, the #3 engine violated a redline constraint, and the GPCs ordered an abort and engine shutdown. They automatically called for a shutdown when the discharge temperature on MPSSSME Main Engine #3 High Pressure Oxidizer Turbopump (HPOT) exceeded its redline value. The HPOT typically operates at 28,120 rpm and boosts the liquid oxygen pressure from 422 psia to 4,300 psia. There are 2 sensor channels measuring temperature on the HPOT. The B channel indicated a redline condition while the other was near redline conditions. The temperature at shutdown was at 1563 degrees R. while a normal HPOT discharge temperature is around 1403 degrees R. The redline limit to initiate a shutdown is at 1560 degrees R. This limit increases to 1760 degrees R. at T-1.3 sec (5.3 sec after Main Engine Start). Main Engine #3 (SN 2032) has been used on 2 previous flights with 2,412 seconds of hot-fire time and a total of 8 starts. This was the first flight for the HPOT on Main Engine (SSME) #3.

Endeavour runs up her three main engines just before her computers declared a pad abort and engine shutdown, Aug. 18, 1994.
(NASA STS-68-KSC-94PC-1026)

What all of this meant to me on the middeck (sitting next to Jeff Wisoff), was that as I felt the SSMEs rumble to life, I began mentally counting down the six seconds til booster ignition at T-minus-zero. Braced against the massive jolt of those SRBs exploding into life, I instead felt the engine vibration die away just as Terry Wilcutt shouted “Right engine down!”, accompanied by the blare of the master alarm. This meant serious trouble.

Out the hatch window to my left, I noted the gantry structure seeming to sway left and right under the vanished shove from Endeavour’s main engines–that was US swaying back and forth. Jeff and I hurriedly threw off our parachute straps and prepared to scoot across the middeck to open the hatch; we might all have to make a beeline to the escape slides on the far side of the gantry’s 190 foot level. We stayed on intercom, waiting for the word to egress.

Tom Jones strapped into Endeavour’s middeck MS-4 seat, during countdown rehearsal in early August, 1994. (NASA ksc-94pc-967)

Within the first minute, Launch Control had our pilots executing the pad abort checklist, entering computer commands that would stop the backup flight software from jettisoning our solid rocket boosters at T+2 minutes (embarrassing and deadly). As Jeff and I cleared our seats in the middeck and stood by to open the hatch, we heard reassuring words from Launch Director Bob Sieck’s team that the computers had executed an orderly shutdown, and no fire or explosion risk was evident.

“Damn! We’re scrubbed!” Jeff opined that we’d be set back at least three weeks by the necessary engine changeout. In fact it would take six weeks for our rollback, engine change, and rollout. STS-64 would slip ahead of us and fly in early September with its LITE laser sensor payload. Our new launch date would be Sept. 30, 1994.

The launch team did a superb job on our abort–the last pad abort in the space shuttle program, and the one that came hair-raisingly close to leaping off the pad with one engine down. That would have meant an immediate scramble to perform a Return To Launch Site (RTLS) abort, flying backward through our Mach 5 exhaust plume to attempt a dicey landing back on Merritt Island. If anyone could pull it off, it would have been Bakes, Terry, Dan, and Steve. Assuredly, no one wanted to be the first to try an RTLS.

The STS-68 crew: (L to R) Jones, Wisoff, Baker, Wilcutt, Smith, Bursch (NASA sts068-s-002)

September 30 was set as our new launch date. STS-64 in the meantime had flown its successful LITE Earth-science mission, with the additional milestone of Mark Lee and Carl Meade test-flying the SAFER EVA jetpack. Our crew had taken a week-long vacation, then got back into simulations and recurring training to polish our space radar abilities. I thought we used the extra time to good effect, and we proceeded to the Cape even better prepared than we were in August. We were certainly more rested than on our first attempt.

One piece of bad luck befell us: on the day we entered quarantine, five of us came down with cold symptoms. We suffered through four days in Houston of runny noses, aches and pains, and sore throats, but with constant flight surgeon attention we slowly improved. Our flight to the Cape was on the Shuttle Training Aircraft, the Gulfstream jet, to spare our sinuses the drastic cabin altitude changes experienced in a T-38.

When we arrived at the Cape, Dan Bursch stepped off the jet in his Groucho Marx disguise, telling reporters that our chances of avoiding a launch abort were better if Endeavour didn’t know he was in the launch area. Our spirits were certainly on the upswing as our three days in Florida at crew quarters drew to a close.

Endeavour rockets off Pad 39A at 7:16:00:068 a.m on Sept. 30, 1994, to begin the STS-68 mission. (NASA STS068-s-037)

Our launch was timed for dawn on September 30, with Endeavour taking us into a 57-degree inclination, circular orbit, about 120 nm up. At that altitude our orbit would drift west at such a rate that we could image each of our science targets three times each day, from slightly different radar incidence angles.

Endeavour and the SRL-2 crew leave Earth on a pillar of fire, Sept. 30, 1994

The liftoff was exhilarating–this time I knew what to expect! I occupied the same seat as on SRL-1, with Jeff Wisoff to my left. No abort this time–the boosters came alive with a punch to the gut and we soared aloft. Much of the cabin dialogue we exchanged during launch is in my book, Sky Walking: An Astronaut’s Memoir. I’d asked that the side hatch window cover again be removed, so I had a terrific view of the gantry turning from gray, to red, to white-hot as the boosters lit. The following eight and a half minutes were punctuated by pyros firing to sever the boosters at two minutes, and then the attention-getting 3 g’s during the final minute of the ascent. During those final seconds I truly experienced the power of the space shuttle’s three main engines, just hurling our 100-ton orbiter toward the injection altitude and velocity. A miracle of technology and physics.

Dawn launch of STS-68, Endeavour, Sept. 30, 1994.

Below, another beautiful view of our dawn liftoff, as Endeavour jolts off the pad. During my second ascent to orbit, I was able to enjoy the physical and mental impressions a bit more methodically, recording my comments on a microcassette recorder during the eight-and-a-half minute climb to our 120 nm mapping orbit.

STS-68 lifts off in the dawn twilight. (Karl Ronstrom)

After MECO, it was off to the races, with Steve Smith and I teaming up on video and still photography of the external tank as it drifted away, below us. Then Jeff and I threw ourselves into converting the middeck into its orbit configuration, and getting the rest of the crew out of their suits and on into their orbital jobs. We had only about 5 hours until my bedtime; the Blue Shift of Steve, Dan and I were due for our first sleep period while Jeff, Mike, and Terry activated SRL-2.

Our external tank, built by Lockheed Martin, drifts clear after MECO. The tank burned up over the Indian Ocean while our OMS engines propelled us into our final orbit. (NASA STS068-01-008)

Before launch, our crew had a chance to examine the Space Radar Lab and its SIR-C/X-SAR radars up close, nestled in Endeavour’s payload bay. C-band panels line the left edge, and the larger L-band panels cover most of the 12-m-long antenna. Along the port edge, next to the robot Canadarm, the German/Italian X-SAR antenna is folded downward toward the sill of the payload bay.

In the orbiter processing facility bay 1, the Space Radar Laboratory 2 (SRL-2) is being transferred from the payload canister transporter into the payload bay of Endeavour. (NASA KSC-94PC-877)

Below, SRL-2 is in orbit. Space Radar Lab 2 had some new wrinkles, added since our April flight of SRL-1. The JPL folks had added a gold decal that matched one the Germans and Italians had placed on the X-band antenna. And the Langley Research Center also added a label to their Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellites (MAPS) instrument, positioned right in front of the radar antennae. It all made for a spectacular view out the back windows of the cabin:

Space Radar Lab 2, in Endeavour’s cargo bay, 120 nm above the Mongolian “Valley of the Lakes”, in southwestern Mongolia between the Khangai and Gobi Altai mountains. (NASA STS068-225-013)

We also had about 160 radar imagery recording cassettes aboard, up from the hundred or so we took aloft on SRL-1. The radar imaging schedule was even more ambitious than in April–and I’d thought that was intense!

I had thought I was over my cold, but upon arrival in orbit and a night’s sleep, I ran into its aftereffects. My sinuses were clogged, and without gravity, NOTHING was coming “down” out of my nose. My head felt like a balloon, and my face was reddened as if by a sunburn. I took to the medical locker to find the decongestants, and over a week or so, I slowly improved. The rest of my crewmates also dealt with the congestion lingering from our colds, and the natural stuffiness from the fluid shift headward, caused by our transition to free fall.

Jeff Wisoff, assisted by the pilots and coordinating with Mission Control (MCC), got SRL-2 up and running on his long first shift in orbit. When I woke from my quick 6 hours of sleep and talked to Jeff, I found he’d been “running” flat out with the activation for his entire shift, barely having time to grab a drink or a quick snack. I got cleaned up in a hurry and took over with Dan and Steve as quickly as we could, to spell the Red Shift from their labors. Having been up more than 18 hours, they were understandably tired. We tucked them into bed and ran with our Science Timeline, our program of observations.

Pilot Terry Wilcutt checks off flight plan tasks from the commander’s seat on Endeavour. Terry and Mike Baker maneuvered Endeavour, oversaw orbiter systems, took on science photography, and assisted Jeff Wisoff with SRL science operations on the Red Shift. (NASA STS068-74-021)

The damaged right OMS pod tile, shattered by a tile that broke loose during ascent from the rim of the left overhead window. (NASA STS068-067-013)

We discovered the tile damage on the first day of the flight, after opening the payload bay doors and inspecting the cargo bay. MCC determined that the heat loads on the upper half of the OMS pod were mild enough that the tile damage would not be dangerous. That greatly eased our minds. It was several days later that we discovered the source of the damage, looking up through the window and noticing a missing piece of tile just outside the outer pane. The tile tore loose during ascent and flew back to strike the OMS pod.

Our STS-68 Blue Shift team: Dan (top), Steve (middle) and Tom (bottom). I slept on the ceiling of the lower bunk. (NASA STS068-033-027)

The radar imagery returned resulted in wonderful images, like the one below, all across the disciplines of the Earth sciences. As we woke for our first work shift, Jeff, Terry, and Bakes called us upstairs to see a spectacular volcanic eruption in Kamchatka. Everyone grabbed a camera to capture images out the windows, while the radar lab obtained thousands of detailed images, revealing details obscured by the eruption plume.

The Kliuchevskoi volcano erupted on our launch day, Sep. 30, 1994. We tracked its eruption over the next week with photography and radar images like this one. The green streaks down the side of the 15,000-foot volcano (center) are mud and lava flows. (NASA JPL p44823)

The eruption was a true serendipitous gift from nature. If we had launched in August as planned, we would have missed this rare geological event. Now we had a ringside seat.

Kliuchevskoi’s eruption as seen from STS-68, Endeavour. This shot was taken with a Hasselblad and 100mm lens. (NASA STS068_214_045)

Dan Bursch points out to me where we REALLY are, above planet Earth. Our atlas showed our orbit tracks and our 400+ science targets. JPL’s science team prepared these custom-made maps with advice from our crew. (NASA STS068-083-023

Our wide-angle 90mm lens on the Linhof camera captured the view below. The Linhof produced a 4×5-inch film negative, with incredible detail. Each magazine held 100 frames, and we refilled magazines with fresh film inside a light-tight bag, stowing the exposed film in canisters and manually spooling a new roll into the magazine. The film reloading was part of our nightly housekeeping routine. But it was hard to tear ourselves away from the windows!

Kliuchevskoi Volcano’s major eruption began September 30, 1994 (launch day) for STS-68. It got almost immediate coverage by the astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. The eruption cloud reached 60,000 feet above sea level, and the winds carried ash as far as 640 miles southeast from the volcano into the North Pacific air routes. This picture was made with a large format Linhof camera. While astronauts used handheld camera’s to keep up with the Kamchatka event, instruments in the cargo bay of Endeavour recorded data to support the Space Radar Laboratory (SRL-2) mission. (NASA STS068-150-045)

We were able to monitor Kliuchevskoi’s eruption for a solid week, using the SRL to track eruptive phases as weather fronts came and went across Kamchatka. During a TV downlink to MCC, I described how the radar beams interacted with lavas of varying roughness, using three samples from Hawaii to illustrate the viewing geometry. I had chunks of aa, pahoehoe, and andesite lava aboard–in free fall, I had to take care to not release rock dust or slivers of lava into the cabin from their ziploc bags.  The andesite sample was a more viscous, stiff lava, erupted from some of the more recent cinder cones on Mauna Kea.

Kliuchevskoi eruption viewed from Endeavour’s aft flight deck windows. (NASA sts068-153-007)

Our shift work was 12 hours on, an 8-hour sleep shift, plus 4 hours for “post-sleep” and “pre-sleep”. In those periods, we talked things over with the Red Shift guys, had breakfast, dinner, and exercise, and took care of necessary housekeeping. One of the challenges was giving Jeff, Terry, and Bakes a good night’s sleep by keeping quiet in the middeck. Even opening a locker could wake up that crew in their sleeping bags, inside their bunks, so we tried to get our lunch like church mice, then eat on the flight deck. Once I dumped a chunk of scrambled eggs that I’d insecurely anchored to a tortilla–it went flying all over the flight deck, and Dan had to help me gobble up the floating egg debris. Dan’s homemade chocolate chip cookies crumbled in their ziploc–getting them out without crumbs floating everywhere required true astronaut skill. From home, with the help of the JSC Space Food Lab, I’d brought TastyKake chocolate cupcakes and Butterscotch Krimpets, enough snacks to carry me through the 11-day mission.

Flying high — about 115 nm up on Endeavour, STS-68. I’m with Dan Bursch and Mike Baker on the flight deck, with Earth in view out the windows. I have the Linhof with 250mm lens, Dan the video camcorder (look how huge it is), and Mike has a Hasselblad 70mm body with a 250mm telephoto lens. (NASA)

Connected to biomedical sensors, astronaut Steven L. Smith, mission specialist, serves as test subject for one of the flight’s 15 Detailed Supplementary Objectives (DSO). Astronaut Michael A. Baker, mission commander, monitors the test on the Space Shuttle Endeavour’s middeck. This test deals with the visual-vestibular integration as a function of adaptation to Spaceflight. Baker and Smith were joined by four other NASA astronauts for eleven days aboard the Endeavour in Earth-orbit, in support of the Space Radar Laboratory-2 (SRL-2) mission. (NASA caption, STS068-021-023).

In the test above, Steve had a laser on his headstrap, and his job was to rotate his head to put the laser dot on a series of targets about 6 feet away on the middeck lockers, forward. The sequence of pointing was random, and the package Steve was wearing recorded his eye motions as well as his response and pointing time. Looks a little like The Terminator if you ask me. Mike Baker helps with the checklist. Note the tortillas in the ziploc bag on the Middeck Equipment Rack (MER) behind Baker, with the galley to the right.

When I enlarge the photo, I see my crew notebook also velcroed to the lockers above Mike’s left shoulder. And I’m actually visible behind Mike, taking a look out the side hatch window (or scrubbing the bathroom!).

Armed with a 250mm telephoto lens on a Linhof camera aboard Endeavour, I’m ready for the next stunning Earth view on STS-68, 10-94.

Astronauts Peter J. K. “Jeff” Wisoff and Steven L. Smith, mission specialists, perform in-flight maintenance procedures on the flight deck. They are replacing a malfunctioning Payload High Rate Recorder (PHRR) aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Astronauts Wisoff and Smith were joined by four other NASA astronauts aboard the Endeavour in operating the Space Radar Laboratory-2 (SRL-2) mission. (NASA caption, STS068-074-008)

The recorders were adapted from digital tape machines that flew in recon aircraft to record digital imagery data. One of the three on our flight deck failed about 8 days into the mission, so Jeff and Steve removed it and replaced it with a spare recorder that’d been flown up underneath our middeck floor. Pretty handy mechanics. Within 4 hours they had the new machine up and running again.

Endeavour glides in for its landing on Oct. 11, 1994, at Edwards AFB, CA. (NASA EC94-42789-1)

All too soon, our 11 days in orbit were coming to a close. We remained an extra day in orbit hoping for added science, and to await improving weather at Kennedy Space Center, but Mission Control directed us home to a landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California on Oct. 11, 1994. Commander Mike Baker, assisted by pilot Terry Wilcutt, brought Endeavour to a gentle landing on Runway 22 at Edwards. Our orbiter performed superbly from start to finish of this successful mission to Planet Earth.

Just after wheels stop on Endeavour, I was to unstrap from my middeck seat and stand up. The blood pressure measurement gear would record my response to standing erect in 1-g, once again. I knew when the equipment was working when my left arm’s pressure cuff inflated, but it never recovered after touchdown. The taped data from entry, however, were good, and so was the audio tape I made as we rode back through the atmosphere. I have to give credit to the designers for creating a rig that would work inside our pressure suits, and yet still be easy enough to don and operate. After return to Houston, I sent the investigators an apology for the verbal tirade I recorded, grousing about the troubles I had getting the batteries replaced and activating the system. My only excuse was being up for a very long day…around 18 hours by the time we landed, and we still had postflight medical tests to endure.

Drag chute DTO complete, Endeavour rolls out on Rwy. 22 at Edwards, with Baker and Wilcutt at the controls. (NASA EC94-42789-2)

STS-68 is a highlight of my speech, “Sky Walking: An Astronaut’s Journey” — contact me here at my speaking information page.

Space Shuttle Endeavour Mission Highlights, STS-68

September 30 – October 11, 1994

(published by National Aeronautics and Space Administration as MH – 030/11-94; reformatted by author)

Commander:                         Michael A. Baker (CPT, USN)

Pilot:                                        Terrence Wilcutt (Lt.Col., USMC)

Payload Commander:        Thomas D. Jones (Ph.D.)

Mission Specialist:              Daniel W. Bursch (Cdr., USN)

Mission Specialist:              Steven L. Smith

Mission Specialist:              Peter “Jeff” J. K. Wisoff (Ph.D.)

Front row:, l to r: Bursch, Baker, Jones. Back row, l to r: Wilcutt, Smith, Wisoff. (NASA STS068-002-016)

MAJOR MISSION ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Second successful flight of the Space Radar Laboratory (SRL) payload studying the Earth’s land surface, oceans, and atmosphere as a key element in NASA’s Mission to Planet Earth.

• Successful testing of a new radar technique called “interferometry.” Endeavour obtained topographic information of unprecedented clarity by using slightly different shuttle positions to provide 3 dimensional images of the terrain.

• Gathered global air pollution data with the Measure­ment of Air Pollution from Satellites (MAPS) instru­ment. MAPS measures atmospheric carbon monoxide, monitoring its production and transport around the globe.

• Compared radar imaging results with those from SRL-1 (STS-59, in April ’94), determining the impact of natural and human change on Earth’s ecology, hydrology, oceanography, and geology. Operating around-the-clock and unaffected by weather, SRL-2’s radar instruments mapped 9% of Earth’s surface.

• Demonstrated the ability of an advanced, multi-fre­quency, multi-polarized radar to assess the state of Earth’s surface over a full seasonal cycle, laying the groundwork for a permanent environmental monitor­ing platform.

• Scanned large areas of the Southern Ocean with an on-board radar processor to reveal important information on wave and storm dynamics in this antarctic sea.

• Conducted investigations into plant reproduction under microgravity conditions, and produced large, high-quality protein crystals for analysis of the molecular structure of alpha-interferon, a cancer­ fighting drug.

• Forged international scientific links with the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C and the X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) experiments.­ The SIR-C/X-SAR science team included 49 science investigators and 3 associates repre­senting a total of thirteen nations.

• Flew the first in a new series of life sciences experi­ments, “Biological Research in Canisters (BRIC), which subjects small organisms to microgravity in search of subtle effects on reproduction and growth.

Space Radar Laboratory-2

The goal of the 65th space shuttle mission was to demonstrate again the potential of new technolo­gy in observing the home planet from space. Endeavour’s vantage point, offering near-global access and a broad view of Earth below, provided a superb test of the Space Radar Laboratory’s capabilities for surface and atmospheric monitoring. As they did on the first Radar Lab flight on STS-59 in April, SRL’s imaging radars (SIR-C/X-SAR) again made surface measure­ments without regard to darkness or the weather below, providing the kind of access necessary for permanent monitoring of the global environment. Complementing the radar experiments, Endeavour’s atmospheric pollu­tion sensor (MAPS) tracked global production and distribution of carbon monoxide, an important combustion-produced trace gas that plays a role in the chemical pathways leading to air pollution and possible global warming.

The Space Radar Laboratory-2 (SRL-2) in the Space Shuttle Endeavour’s cargo bay is backdropped against the blackness of space over Earth. (NASA STS068-070-23)

Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR)

SIR-C/X-SAR is the most advanced civil radar flown in space. The system was designed and built by NASA, the German Space Agency (DARA) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). Jet Propulsion Lab devel­oped the SIR-C (C and L-band radars) for NASA, and DARA and ASI developed the X-band system; all three helped integrate the system into a single, flexible Earth-sensing tool. Radar waves can penetrate clouds, and under certain conditions, can also see through vegeta­tion, dry snow and extremely dry sand. In many cases, radar is the only way scientists can explore inaccessible regions of Earth’s surface.

SIR-C/X-SAR transmits pulses of radio energy at three different frequencies, creating detailed images of the surface that are tailored to detect soil and rocks (geology) , ocean waves and currents (oceanography), vegetation density and type (ecology), and water in the form of soil moisture, snow, ice, and rivers and lakes (hydrology). SIR-C/X-SAR first flew on STS-59 (SRL-1) in April of 1994. Repeating the environmental  measure­ments in a different season would prove radar’s ability to serve eventually as a permanent monitor of Earth’s environment, tracking both natural and man-made changes on the planet.

Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellites (MAPS)

The Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellites (MAPS) experiment flew for the fourth time aboard STS-68. MAPS operated around the clock, measuring concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) around the globe. CO plays a key role in the chemical reaction pathways of the troposphere (the lowest, weather-filled layer of the atmosphere). It combines with hydroxyl radical (OH) and forms carbon dioxide (CO2). OH has a prime role in the breakdown and removal of greenhouse gases such as methane (CH4). If increasing CO, released from combustion processes, reduces the amount of hydroxyl radical in the air, then the breakdown of greenhouse gases will also slow down.Thus measuring CO’s global abundance is important in understanding how human-caused and natural combustion sources are affecting the global warming process.

On SRL-2, MAPS again worked flawlessly, and recorded a markedly different pattern of CO abun­dance than seen on SRL-1 in April ’94.The SRL-2 results showed heavy concentrations of CO from bio­mass (vegetation) burning in the tropics, with the greatest amounts over southeast Asia and the tropics of Africa and South America. Industrial sources of CO in the northern hemisphere were still present, but at lower levels than seen in April. As on SRL-1, the crew’s reports of fires, smoke, and the storms that loft CO to high altitude were used to confirm MAPS readings, and correlate MAPS and ground measurements.

Earth Science from Space

Once the STS-68 crew was in orbit, they powered up the SRL-2 payloads and checked out the radar and MAPS systems. The ground science team began uplinking commands to begin radar observa­tions for the 11-day flight. The crew worked in two shifts around the clock to operate Endeavour as a science platform. They maneuvered Endeavour some 470 times to precisely track the radar targets, reducing uncer­tainties in the imagery caused by Earth’s rotation. They recorded the digital radar images on tape, and conducted Earth photography and ”field observations”
at the hundreds of science sites around the globe. The crew provided needed “ground truth” to prove the accuracy of the radar data by taking over 13,000 images of the Earth with 14 different cameras.

SRL-2 examined Earth at over 400 specific sites, chosen for their environmental significance. Nineteen were “supersites;’ high priority focal points for data collection, where each science discipline­ ecology, hydrology, oceanography, geology, and radar calibration-concentrated their experiments. Intensive field work occurred at these sites before, during, and after the mission.

SRL-2 joined SRL-1 in acquiring 100% of the mission’s planned science observations. In addition, the science team redirected the radars during the flight to take advantage of rapidly changing conditions on the ground. The best example of this retargeting was the reaction to the spectacular eruption of Kliuchevskoi volcano, which exploded into life just hours after STS-68’s launch on 30 September. The SIR-C/X-SAR team was able to replan upcoming passes over the Kam­chatka Peninsula to study the entire course of the week-long eruption. Not only was the crew among the first witnesses to the eruption, but they tracked its progress daily, providing the most detailed documenta­tion of a large eruption ever obtained from space.

This SRL-2 radar image of the Kliuchevskoi volcano on the Kamchatka peninsula was taken on October 5, 1994, during Endeavour’s 88th orbit. Kliuchevskoi is the left-most of the two peaks, just above the white, flat-topped mountain at right center. The volcano erupted on launch day, and the SIR-C/X-SAR radar penetrated the 18 km-high smoke and ash plume to capture the bright lava flows streaking the left side of Kliuchevskoi’s twin peaks. (NASA/JPL p44823)

The radar and MAPS data provide information about how many of Earth’s complex “systems” work together to make the planet livable. Some early results include:

• Tree classification and vegetation biomass (amount of plant material) maps of the Raco, MI, supersite.
• A map of river flooding near Manaus, Brazil–the first step toward improving models of both flooding and wetlands under dense rain forest canopies.
• Snow wetness maps (showing free liquid water content of the snow pack) of Oetztal, Austria, and accurate estimates of the amount of water stored in the snowpack there.
• Extensive wave-energy measurements over the Southern Ocean that show the dominant sea states in the stormiest ocean region on the planet.
• Detection of oil spills in the North Sea. SIR-C/X-SAR detected industrial and natural oils in spill amounts as small as 10 liters, demonstrating another advantage of environmental monitoring from space.
• Monitoring of changes in the shape and extent of glaciers in the Patagonian Andes, at the far south­ern tip of South America. These remote glaciers are among the most rapidly advancing in the world, and may serve as sensitive indicators of global climate change.

Astronaut Daniel W. Bursch (right), mission specialist, points out one of the STS-68 mission’s major observation points on a map as astronaut Thomas D. Jones, payload commander, looks on. Jones and Bursch were joined by four other NASA astronauts for eleven days aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in Earth orbit in support of the Space Radar Laboratory-2 (SRL-2) mission. (NASA STS068-083-023)

SRL-2 demonstrated a powerful new use of radar, called interferometry, that produces three-dimen­sional maps of Earth’s surface. Mission Control and the crew combined to perform the most precise orbital maneuvers of the shuttle program, putting Endeavour in an orbit for the first 6 days that nearly matched SRL-1’s flight path in April. At times the two orbits differed by only 10 meters. For days 7-10, the crew lowered the orbit to a height of 200 km, an altitude that put Endeavour on a path matching its previous day’s ground track. This exacting navigation (where the crew trimmed orbital velocity to an accuracy of 1 part in 2 million) produced long swaths of interferometric data. The resulting digital elevation maps can show not only the ground’s elevation, but changes in height of just a few centimeters–actual shifts in Earth’s crust. The tech­nique should prove to be a powerful tool for detecting stress building up on or under Earth’s surface, warning, for example, of imminent volcanic activity.

SRL-2’s space radar also examined several areas of cultural interest, including the mountain gorilla habitat in central Africa, the ancient trade route called the Silk Road in China’s northwestern desert, the lost city of Ubar on the Arabian Peninsula, and buried river channels under the Sahara.

Middeck Payloads

Experiments to benefit Earth took place inside the crew module as well. Commercial Protein Growth (CPCG), flown “downstairs” on Endeavour’s middeck, grew and preserved high quality protein crystals of sufficient size and purity to permit analysis of their structure back on Earth. This structural information will be put to use in the manufacture of alpha-interferon, a cancer-fighting drug. Early in the mission, the crew solved an overheating problem in the experiment by rigging a temporary cooling duct to its fan inlets, assuring the proper conditions for crystal growth.

The crew also operated the Chromosome and Plant Cell Division in Space (CMIX) experiment, inves­tigating the effects of microgravity on plant reproduc­tion. Small, rapidly growing plants called mouse-eared cress grew to maturity in their 11 days in free-fall, giv­ing insight not only into cell reproduction in space, but also into practical methods for growing plants for food and waste recycling on long-duration space missions.

In another middeck locker experiment-Biologi­cal Research in Canisters (BRIC)-hundreds of dor­mant gypsy moth larvae underwent exposure to free­ fall to see if microgravity would affect their metamor­phosis into adults. Identifying gravity’s effect on the process may lead to efficient production of sterile moths to combat this forest pest. The crew also sys­tematically measured cabin radiation levels to assess long-term hazards of living in space, and photo­graphed ships’ wakes from orbit to assess how cloud formation is affected by exhaust emissions.

The crew took on another job, serving as labo­ratory subjects in a series of space medical experi­ments. They examined how coordination of head and eye movements degrades as the brain adapts to microgravity; recorded how free-fall affects the body’s sleep-wake cycle and hormone levels; and measured the heart’s response as Endeavour returned to the full force of gravity during re-entry and landing. These investigations will help prepare for the long stays in microgravity planned aboard the Space Station.

Endeavour’s landing at Edwards AFB capped a superb mission to Planet Earth. SIR-C/X-SAR imaged 83 million square kilometers of the Earth’s surface, about 9% of the globe. The radar experiments filled 199 magnetic tape cassettes, which held over 60 ter­abits (60 trillion bits) of imagery data–the equivalent of 25,000 encyclopedia volumes. MAPS created a series of global carbon monoxide maps, tracing the path of pollutants through Earth’s dynamic atmos­phere. Endeavour’s crew brought back the largest complement of Earth photography of the Shuttle pro­gram to date, a record of Earth’s environmental changes that will aid greatly the interpretation of the radar and MAPS results. STS-68 completed the proof­ test of spaceborne radar as a tool for permanent, long-term monitoring of our planet’s health.

Connected to biomedical sensors, Mission Specialist Steven L. Smith serves as a subject for visual-vestibular integration tests. Mission Commander Michael A Baker monitors the test. (NASA STS068-21-823)

Pilot Terrence W. Wilcutt takes advantage of the weightless environment of space to juggle five cameras which are used to record the changing ecology and oceanography of Earth. (NASA STS068-055-009)

Mission Facts

Orbiter: Endeavour

Mission Dates: September 30-0ctober 11, 1994

Commander: Michael A. Baker (CPT, USN)

Pilot: Terrence Wilcutt (Lt. Col., USMC)

Payload Commander: Thomas D. Jones (Ph.D.)

Mission Specialist: Steven L. Smith

Mission Specialist: Daniel W. Bursch (Cdr., USN)

Mission Specialist: Peter “Jeff” J. K. Wisoff (Ph..D.)

Mission Duration: 11 days, 5 hours, 47 minutes

Kilometers Traveled: 8,710,360 km

Orbit Inclination: 57 degrees

Orbits of Earth: 183

Orbital Altitude: 222 km

Payload Weight Up: 12,511 kg

Orbiter Landing Weight: 101,169 kg

Landed: Edwards Air Force Base, California

Payloads and Experiments:

Cargo Bay Payloads:

SRL-2 – Space Radar Laboratory-2

GAS – Get Away Special canisters

Middeck Payloads:

CPCG – Commercial Protein Crystal Growth

BRIC – Biological Research in Canisters

CREAM – Cosmic Radiation Effects and Activation Monitor

CHROMEX – Chromosomes and Plant Cell Division in Space Experiment

MAST – Military Applications of Ship Tracks

Commander: Michael A. Baker (Capt., USN)
Michael Baker was born in Memphis, Tennessee, but considers Lemoore, California, to be his hometown. He received a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas. After completing flight training, he flew the A-7E aircraft aboard the USS Midway. He conducted A-7 aircraft-related tests on the various aircraft carriers in the Navy’s fleet. Baker served as an instructor at the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School before assignment as the U.S. Navy Exchange Instructor at the Empire Test Pilots’ School in Boscombe Down, England. He has logged over 4,200 hours flying time in some 50 different types of aircraft, and has completed over 300 carrier landings. He was named an astronaut in 1985, and was pilot of the STS-43 and STS-52 missions.

Pilot: Terrence W. Wilcutt (Lt. Col., USMC)
Terrence Wilcutt was born in Russellville, Kentucky. He graduated with a bach­elor of arts degree in mathematics from Western Kentucky University. Upon graduation, Wilcutt taught high school math for two years and then entered the U.S. Marine Corps. He earned his wings in 1978 and served on various assignments in Hawaii and overseas in aircraft such as the F-4 Phantom, FA- 18 Hornet, and the A-7 Corsair II. Wilcutt attended the Naval Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun) and the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. He has over 3,000 flight hours in more than 30 different kinds of aircraft. Wilcutt was selected as an astronaut in 1990 and has served in a variety of responsibilities including Space Shuttle main engine and external tank issues and launch support. This was his first space flight.

Payload Commander: Thomas D. Jones (Ph.D.)
Thomas David Jones was born 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. As an Air Force offi­cer, 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. Jones flew in space on the STS-59 mission; this was his second flight on Endeavour.

Mission Specialist: Steven L. Smith
Steven Smith was born in Phoenix, Arizona, but considers San Jose, California, to be his hometown. Smith received a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering, master of science degree in electrical engineering, and a master’s degree in business administration, all from Stanford University.He worked for IBM in the Large Scale Integration (semiconductor) Technology Group as a technical group lead. Smith joined NASA in 1989 in the Payload Operation Branch, Mission Operations Directorate. As a payload officer, his duties included payload integration and mission support. He was selected as an astronaut in 1992 and has provided Space Shuttle support in the areas of main engines, solid rocket boosters, and the external tank. This was his first space flight.

Mission Specialist: Peter J. K. “Jeff”Wisoff (Ph.D.)
Peter J. K. Wisoff was born in Norfolk,Virginia. He received a bachelor of science degree in physics from the University of Virginia and a master of science degree and doctorate in applied physics from Stanford University. Upon gradu­ation, he joined the faculty of .Rice University in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His research focused on the development of new vacuum ultraviolet and high intensity laser sources. He also worked with researchers from regional Texas medical centers on the use of lasers in rebuilding damaged nerves. Wisoff has contributed numerous papers at tech­nical conferences and in journals in the areas of lasers and laser applications. He was named an astronaut in 1990 and was a mission specialist aboard STS-57 as well as STS-68.

Mission Specialist: Daniel W. Bursch (Cdr., USN)
Daniel Bursch was born in Bristol, Pennsylvania, but considers Vestal, New York, his hometown. He earned a bachelor of science degree in physics from the U.S. Naval Academy, and a master of science degree in engineering science from the Naval Postgraduate School. After training as an A-6E Intruder bombardier/navigator, he served aboard the USS John F. Kennedy and USS America. After working as a project test flight officer for the A-6 Intruder, he served as a flight instructor at the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. Bursch worked as Strike Operations Officer for Commander, Cruiser-Destroyer Group 1, making deployments to the Indian Ocean aboard the USS Long Beach and USS Midway. He has over 2,100 flight hours in more than 35 different aircraft. Bursch was selected as an astronaut in 1990 and flew as a mission specialist aboard STS-51 and STS-68.

Exploration of Earth from space is the focus of the design of the insignia, the second flight of the Space Radar Laboratory (SRL-2). SRL-2 is part of NASA’s Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE) project. The world’s land masses and oceans dominate the center field, with the Space Shuttle Endeavour circling the globe. The SRL-2 letters span the width and breadth of planet Earth, symbolizing worldwide coverage of the two prime experiments of STS-68–The Shuttle Imaging Radar-C and X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) instruments, and the Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellites (MAPS) sensor. The red, blue and black colors of the insignia represent the three operating wavelengths of SIR-C/X-SAR, and the gold band surrounding the globe symbolizes the atmospheric envelope examined by MAPS. The flags of international partners Germany and Italy are shown opposite Endeavour. The relationship of the Orbiter to Earth highlights the usefulness of human space flight in understanding Earth’s environment, and monitoring its changing surface and atmosphere. In the words of the crewmembers, “the soaring Orbiter also typifies the excellence of the NASA team in exploring our own world, using the tools which the Space Program developed to explore the other planets in the solar system.” The STS-68 patch was designed by artist Sean Collins. (NASA STS068-s-001)

**End**

Read about the STS-68 mission and its highlights in my memoir, “Sky Walking,” available at this website, www.AstronautTomJones.com.  To book a speech about these and my other spaceflight experiences, please contact the WorldWide Speakers Group, here.

The Sun’s Corona seen from Lake Simtustus, OR. (credit T. Jones; 1/60 s f6.8 ISO 400)

The Great American Total Solar Eclipse turned out to be well worth the journey, and my family enjoyed this spectacular demonstration of the solar system in operation from Oregon’s central desert near the small town of Madras, just east of the Deschutes River gorge. Understanding the space requires training from a young age, here are 4 Ways To Introduce Toddlers To Tech And Science. We were blessed with clear skies (a bare trace of forest fire smoke) for this awe-inspiring event. I’ll post a series of photos of our eclipse experience here.

The scene of the eclipse at Lake Simtustus, a dammed portion of the Deschutes River. (T. Jones)

We were guests of our friend, Rhonda Coleman, an “umbraphile,” or seeker of total eclipses. Her RV group graciously invited us to share with us their eclipse observing location. Sunrise occurred at 0731, with the Sun peeking over the basalt lava rim of the surrounding plateau.

Sunrise at Lake Simtustus at 0731 am, shot through a solar filter. (T. Jones)

Using a solar filter, I watched the sun rise above, as the solar disc cleared the canyon rim. Eclipse start was just 90 minutes or so away.

The Moon takes its first bite and the eclipse begins. This shot was taken at 0912 am PDT. (T. Jones)

High cirrus clouds and some wisps of forest fire smoke moved off to the east during the morning, and we had clear skies throughout the eclipse. Our setting was in a scattered pine grove in desert terrain carved out of hundreds of feet of ancient basalt lava flows, incised by the Deschutes River. Cool morning air, low humidity, and the solar spectacle warming us comfortably.

Projected image of the moon’s passage across the sun, using one of the amateur astronomers’ reflecting telescope and a motor oil funnel clamped to the eyepiece. (T. Jones)

Many of the observers were experts with their personal telescopes, and I believe Brian Bellis used his scope and the funnel to cleverly project the Sun’s image, above.

Projected image from our makeshift pinhole projector, a fitting message for our hiking group. (T. Jones)

Our hiking group from Virginia was the core of our group headed to Oregon for the eclipse, so this message was a natural when I drilled out our thin section of wood for our pinhole projector. Note the mini-eclipses projected from each 1/8″ hole.

The moon has covered more of the Sun, heading for totality. This shot came at 10:01 am. (T. Jones)

Excitement built among the 300-or-so observers at Lake Simtustus as the moon drove steadily across the Sun’s face. Still, at this point we could see no noticeable drop in brightness outdoors, above.

Totality approaches at 10:08 am. (T. Jones).

For the above shot, I was still shooting zoomed in through a solar filter over the optics of the Canon digital (SX280 HS), using its “auto” setting to meter for proper exposure. (T. Jones).

Sun just before totality, at 1017 am. Through solar filter on “auto” setting. (T. Jones)

When I took the above shot, two minutes before totality, the ambient light was dropping rapidly, bathing the desert landscape in a weak, watery, orange-yellow illumination. Everyone noticed this, murmuring about the unfamiliar, weird light levels of the scene. By this point I was getting my settings ready for totality, but there was almost too much going on with the waning Sun to focus on camera set-up.

A juniper tree acted as a pinhole projector, throwing crescent solar discs across the ground and onto our whiteboard. (T. Jones)

The waning light is obvious in the above photo, both on the ground and in those hundreds of thin solar crescents. Our daughter Annie noticed the ground crescents and grabbed our white poster board to best see these mini-eclipses.

Just after totality, prominences appear on the Sun’s limb with its inner corona. (T. Jones, 1/1250 s f6.8 ISO 400)

Wow! Didn’t see the prominences until looking at the photos, but some in our group with binoculars spotted these immense arcs of incandescent gas above the Sun’s limb. The fine structure of the inner corona also impressed.

Visible are brilliant prominences and the inner corona. (T. Jones, 1/640 s f6.8 ISO 400)

As my exposure time increased, we started to capture more of the corona stretching above those amazing prominences (above). Temperature along the lake front dropped noticeably. One friend, Dan Adamo in Salem, OR, recorded a drop of over 6 degrees F during totality.

More of the corona appears. (T. Jones, f6.8 1/320 s ISO 400)

Longer exposure time gets more of the structure of the corona. I was whirling through the shutter speed dial, and using a 2-second delay on the shutter timer to damp vibration on the tripod. And the clock was ticking on me observing the eclipse with my own eyeballs. (I did take long glimpses between these shots).

The middle corona emerges, captured at 1/125 s f6.8 ISO 400 (T. Jones).

The photo above appears much like the scene we saw of the moon and Sun during the last minute of totality. How incredibly lovely.

Nearing totality’s end, the corona is edged by the chromosphere at upper right. (T. Jones, 1/50 s f6.8 ISO 400)

Totality was almost over. The crowd’s murmur rose noticeably as we all anticipated the Sun’s reappearance; emotions ran from exultant to sadness that this vision was about to end. But we were all eager to see what the Sun would show us at eclipse conclusion.

My final glimpse of the corona at 1/40 s, f6.8, ISO 400. (T. Jones)

The Sun is just about to emerge from behind the Moon, outshining the chromosphere here (above). Good-bye to the corona, perhaps until 2024.

The diamond ring emerges, ending totality at 1021 am. (T. Jones, 1/30 s f6.8 ISO 400)

Whoops and cheers swelled as the Sun emerged from eclipse, exhibiting this blazing diamond ring above the Oregon desert. On go the solar glasses again!

The exuberant Blackout Rally crowd just after totality–emotionally drained, but exuberant! (T. Jones)

The Sun drenches the viewing area, and out come the eclipse glasses and the cold drinks.

Miniatures of the waning eclipse cast by our pinhole projector. (T. Jones)

With the totality tension gone, all of us could catch up on the eclipse experiences we missed on the way in to blackout. Above are the miniatures of the waning eclipse cast by our pinhole projector onto the poster board.

View of the waning eclipse at 1054 am. (T. Jones)

Most of us enjoyed a cold swallow of our iced Coronas at this point, talking excitedly with friends and family about what we’d witnessed.

Gathering of the Sun Chasers, post-totality. (T. Jones)

What a success this was for all involved. Note all the telescopes brought by the Blackout Ralliers in background.

The Moon moves off-stage at about 1122 am. (T. Jones)

Sunspots make their reappearance as the Moon exits the Sun’s neighborhood. We followed the eclipse’s finish with a picnic lunch, and plotted plans to avoid the traffic heading south out of Madras. I enjoyed giving a talk under the big tent, and met with eclipse-goers at a book signing under the shade of our big juniper at the viewing area, autographing Ask the Astronaut and Sky Walking.

Tom Jones speaks at Blackout Rally, post-eclipse. (Rhonda Coleman)

Tom signs copies of his books, under the blessed shade of the big juniper. (Sean Wilson)

We’ll close this eclipse album out with a view of the Moon’s shadow, seen from the International Space Station. For the U.S., so long to totality until 2024. See you in the umbra!

Lunar shadow as seen from ISS. 8-21-17 (NASA)

www.AstronautTomJones.com

(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.)

The payload bay of Endeavour features the large antenna of the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C / X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar instrument. (NASA STS059-215-022)

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.

STS-59 Crewmembers : (Front L to R) Jerome Apt, Sidney M. Gutierrez, Thomas D. Jones, (Back L to R) Kevin P. Chilton, Linda M. Godwin, and Michael R. Clifford (NASA STS059-44-004)

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.

Payload Commander Linda Godwin talks with amateur radio operators using the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX). SAREX is used by the crew to talk with students around the world. (NASA STS059-16-028)

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.

Taken by the SIR-C/X-SAR radar on the 40th orbit, this image shows part of Isla lsabela in the western Galapagos Islands. The image shows the rougher lava flows as bright features, while ash deposits and smooth pahoehoe lava flows appear dark. (NASA JPL P-43899)

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

STS-59 Crew Patch

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

Altai Mountains on the China/Mongolia border,, one of our science targets on Space Radar Lab 1(NASA STS059-L17-31)

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.

Jeff Wisoff and Tom Jones at the 195-foot level of Pad 39A. Jeff Wisoff and Tom Jones at the 195-foot level at Pad 39A. The crawlerway to the pad from the Vehicle Assembly Building is in the background. July 31, 1994.

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.

Tom Jones and Terry Wilcutt listen to questions from the press after TCDT. (NASA STS-68-2)

Tom answers a TCDT press conference question with the STS-68 crew. Jul-Aug 94

Back at crew quarters, we all worked with our suit technicians to complete the testing of our Launch and Entry Suits (LES) for the mock countdown the next morning. Here I am wearing the inner pressure garment of the LES; the orange outer covering is attached after these pressure checks are completed.

Tom completes suit fit checks in the suit room in crew quarters.

 

The AstroVan (below) is now on display near Atlantis at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Will it roll again? Here we’re loose and joking, but the atmosphere’s a little more tense on the day of the real ride to the launch pad.

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.

Tom at the 195-foot level of Pad 39A after our countdown demonstration test and emergency egress drill concluded. That’s the Vehicle Assembly Building in the background.

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

Shenandoah Valley and the Appalachians from Endeavour, STS-59 (NASA STS059-225-072 )

Endeavour’s STS-59 crew took this look, on April 18, 1994, at the north and south Forks of the Shenandoah River. North is to the top. Seen in sunglint, the South Fork (right) and the North Fork (left) of the Shenandoah meet at upper right; Front Royal, Virginia is just east of the combined rivers at the junction. Massanutten Mountain, covered by reddish-brown fallen leaves of the George Washington National Forest, separates the river forks in this springtime view. Skyline Drive and the Appalachian Trail run along the Blue Ridge from lower right to mid-scene right, SW to NE. Passage Creek flows toward upper right in the interior valley, Fort Valley, of Massanutten, finally reaching the Shenandoah’s north fork.I-66 enters this view from the top right, from Washington.

At top center are the scars of two limestone quarries, which have now grown larger and threaten the Cedar Creek Civil War battlefield just north of the junction between I-66 and I-81. The Alleghenies form the mountain barrier to the west (left). Signal Knob is the promontory at the top (north) end of Massanutten; it was a critical Confederate observation point prior to the Cedar Creek battle in October 1864. Across this scene, Stonewall Jackson played out his masterful Valley Campaign in spring 1862. Employing audacity and rapid, unpredictable movements on interior lines, Jackson’s 17,000 men marched 646 miles (1,040 km) in 48 days and won several minor battles as they successfully engaged three Union armies (52,000 men), preventing them from reinforcing the Union offensive against Richmond.

Whenever one looks out the cabin window, the sweep of history and Earth’s natural beauty can nearly overwhelm an astronaut. But our work on Space Radar Lab 1 pulled us reluctantly away. Hope this view will inspire you to make time for a hike on the AT or up Massanutten. (NASA STS59-225-072).

(posted 4/19/19)

**

Central Los Angeles from STS-59 Endeavour. (NASA STS059-227-050)

(posted 4/12/19)

**

New Zealand’s South Island and Mt. Cook. (NASA STS059-233-046)

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

Endeavour and the Space Radar Lab instruments soar over the northwestern coast and desert of Australia. (NASA sts059-34-20)

(posted April 10, 2019)

**

Aconcagua amid the Andes, shot from STS-59, Endeavour. 4/14/1994. (STS059-214-012)

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

Iwo Jima as seen from 120 nautical miles up from shuttle Endeavour, STS-59, in April 1994. (NASA-STS059-210-33)

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 viewed during STS-59. (NASA STS059-213-009)

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)

The coast of Madagascar and the Betsiboka River, laden with sediment. (NASA sts059-237-1)

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]

Sweden and Denmark from STS-59 Endeavour, shot on April 18, 1994. Altitude 112 nautical miles. (NASA STS059-223-65)

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)

Islands of Hawaii: Molokai, Lanai, and Maui’s west end (NASA STS080-732-063)

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)

Nabro Volcano, Eritrea: (NASA STS080-729-051)

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)

Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on Hawaii’s Big Island, imaged Nov. 25, 1996. (NASA STS080-758-069)

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.

Midway atoll STS080-738-081

(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.

Jomolhari in the Himalaya, at an elevation of 24,035 ft. Photo taken 12/5/96. (NASA STS080-719-019)

(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!

Emi Koussi volcano in Chad STS080-722-016

(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:)

The Red Sea, Sinai Peninsula, Suez Canal, and the Nile, shot from Columbia. (STS080-745-004)

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 island of Oahu, state of Hawaii (NASA STS080-758-065. 25 Nov 1996)

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!

***

Mount Everest, near the border of Nepal and China, which reaches 29,028 feet in elevation (8,848 meters). STS080-733-001.

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.

A view of the western portion of the Florida Keys. (NASA STS080-709-094 (19 Nov.-7 Dec. 1996)

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

The Eastern Syntaxis of the Himalaya, where the mountain ranges abruptly change to a southerly trend, as do several of the great Asian rivers. The Tibetan Plateau stretches away in the distance. Shot from 185 nm altitude. (NASA STS080-754-26)

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.

Aorounga Impact Crater, Chad. Diameter 17 km, or 10.5 miles) (NASA sts080-722-15)

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.

Pinatubo Volcano, Philippines, erupted in 1991. The light-colored mud-filled rivers radiating away from the summit were the scene of floods of hot volcanic slurries streaming down the mountain slopes. (NASA STS080-706-44)

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.

Ayers Rock and the Olgas in Australia’s Outback (NASA STS080-729-83)

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.

Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center, from 185 nautical miles (NM), on Dec. 1, 1996. (NASA STS080-739-042)

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, Mexico photographed from Columbia on STS-80. North is up in this photo. (NASA STS080-711-036)

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.

Tongue of the Ocean bordered by Great Exuma Island (NASA SS080-742-070)

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.

Eleuthera Bahamas (NASA STS080-711-019)

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)

Maui, Hawaii from STS-80. (NASA STS080-758-068)

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.

Sinai Peninsula (NASA STS080-752-015)

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.

Sunglint off the Pacific Ocean southwest of Hawaii on 11/25/96. (NASA STS080-759-75)

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.

Moonrise from Columbia, STS-80 (NASA sts080-759-038)

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”.

Nile and Pyramids of Giza, outside Cairo, Egypt. (NASA STS080-749-031)

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