Earth and Mars Observations

High-quality images of Earth's landscapes and Martian terrain captured from space, displaying geological formations and environmental features.

iss064e031247 (Feb. 11, 2021) --- The Himalayas separating China from India and Nepal are pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 263 miles above northern Pakistan.

Earth Observation taken during a day pass by the Expedition 40 crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Folder lists this as Hurricane Arthur.

Earth Observation taken during a day pass by the Expedition 40 crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Folder lists this as EOS Arena Pantanal (maybe).

Earth Observations taken by Expedition 34 crewmember.

iss061e029039 (Nov. 4, 2019) --- Baja California, with the Sun's glint beaming off the Gulf of California, is pictured as the International Space Station orbited 256 miles above the Pacific Ocean southwest of Tijuana, Mexico.

Earth observation taken during a day pass by an Expedition 36 crew member on board the International Space Station (ISS).

$This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft shows an exposure of bedrock on the floor of Bakhuysen Crater, an impact crater in Noachis Terra. The bedrock is highly fragmented and fractured.$

iss064e031247 (Feb. 11, 2021) --- The Himalayas separating China from India and Nepal are pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 263 miles above northern Pakistan.

ISS038-E-025895 (5 Jan. 2014) --- Bazman volcano in Iran is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 38 crew member on the International Space Station. Bazman volcano is located in a remote southern region within the Bazman Protected Area of Sistan and Baluchestan Provinces. While the volcano has the classic cone shape associated with stratovolcanoes, it is also heavily dissected by channels that extend downwards from the 3,490-meter-above-sea-level summit. This radial drainage pattern - looking similar to the spokes of a bicycle wheel - is readily observed in this photograph. Such patterns can form around high, symmetric peaks when water runoff and erosion is not constrained by the resistance of geologic materials or barriers to flow, leading to essentially even distribution of water runoff channels around the central peak. While there is no historical record of volcanism at Bazman, and no geologic record of eruptive activity within the past 10,000 years, some fumarolic ac

ISS023-E-032397 (4 May 2010) --- The Gulf of Mexico oil spill is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 23 crew member on the International Space Station. On April 20, 2010 the oil rig Deepwater Horizon suffered an explosion and sank two days later. Shortly thereafter oil began leaking into the Gulf of Mexico from ruptured pipes as safety cutoff mechanisms failed to operate. Automated nadir-viewing orbital NASA sensors have been tracking the growth of the oil spill as it has spread towards the northern Gulf Coast. This detailed photograph provides a different viewing perspective on the ongoing event. The image is oblique, meaning that it was taken with a sideways viewing angle from the space station, rather than the straight down or nadir view typical of automated satellite sensors. The view is towards the west; the ISS was located over the eastern edge of the Gulf of Mexico when the image was taken. The Mississippi River Delta and nearby Louisiana coast (top) appear da

Terby Crater, sitting on the northern rim of Hellas Basin, has been filled by sedimentary deposits, perhaps deposited by or in water, as observed by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Earth Observation taken during a day pass by the Expedition 40 crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Folder lists items in this group as Chile Atacama Bolivia Andes and active volcano.

Earth Observations taken by Expedition 34 crewmember.

Recurring slope lineae (RSL) are seasonal flows on warm slopes, and are especially common in central and eastern Valles Marineris, as seen in this observation by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Earth Observations taken by Expedition 34 crewmember.

ISS043E187300 (05/10/2015) --- NASA astronaut Scott Kelly tweeted this aquamarine seascape Earth observation on May 10, 2015 from the International Space Station. His comment was a simple: "watercolor from space. #YearInSpace".

The Namib Desert is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 262 miles above the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of the African nation of Namibia.

The formation of 'recurring slope lineae' is a fascinating process on Mars. These RSLs show up in the spring and fade in the winter as seen by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Earth Observations taken by Expedition 34 crewmember.

Earth observations taken by Expedition 34 crewmember.

Earth Observations taken by Expedition 38 crewmember. Image was released by astronaut on Twitter.

Earth Observations taken by Expedition 34 crewmember.

Earth Observations taken by Expedition 34 crewmember.

Earth observation taken by the Expedition 35 crew aboard the ISS.

Earth observation taken by the Expedition 39 crew aboard the ISS. Image was released by astronaut on Instagram and downlinked in folder Himalayas.

Earth observation taken during a day pass by the Expedition 36 crew.

ISS023-E-032396 (4 May 2010) --- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi, Expedition 23 flight engineer, photographed the tail end of the Mississippi Delta showing the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico on May 4, 2010. Part of the river delta and nearby Louisiana coast appear dark in the sunglint. This phenomenon is caused by sunlight reflecting off the water surface, in a mirror-like manner, directly back towards the astronaut observer onboard the International Space Station (ISS). The sunglint improves the identification of the oil spill which is creating a different water texture (and therefore a contrast) between the smooth and rougher water of the reflective ocean surface. Other features which cause a change in surface roughness that can be seen in sunglint are wind gusts, naturally occurring oils that will be gathered by and take the form of water currents or wave patterns, and less windy areas behind islands.

Earth Observations taken by Expedition 34 crewmember.

Earth Observations taken by Expedition 34 crewmember.

Earth Observations taken by Expedition 34 crewmember.

. iss069e089643 (Sept. 18, 2023) --- Located in the Libyan Desert along the country's southeastern border with Sudan and Egypt are the Jebel Uweinat (left) and the Jabal Arkenu (right) mountains pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 258 miles above.

. iss069e089635 (Sept. 18, 2023) --- The eroded Aorounga meteorite impact crater, also known as the "Eye of the Desert," in the African nation of Chad is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 258 miles above.

iss061e021751 (Oct. 29, 2019) --- The wildfires in California north of the San Francisco Bay Area were photographed by Expedition 61 crewmember as the International Space Station orbited 254 miles above the Golden State.

Stereo Image of Zal Patera and Neighboring Mountain, Io

ISS040-E-000788 (20 May 2014) --- Expedition 40 Commander Steve Swanson of NASA photographed this image from an Earth-facing window on the Earth-orbiting International Space Station featuring the Atlantic coast of the African nation of Morocco and the disputed territory of Western Sahara on May 20, 2014. The town of Tarfaya, Morocco, located at 22.45 degrees north latitude, and 13.13 degrees, east longitude, is visible. Obvious streaks in the sand were created by northerly winds.

Earth Observation taken during a day pass by the Expedition 40 crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Folder lists this as Floods in India.

Bubbles

Top view of the salt lake mud sources. External similarity with craters. Mud healing springs Top view of the salt lake mud sources. External similarity with craters. Mud healing springs. Copyright: xZoonar.com/LeonidxEremeychukx 9800851

SL3-115-1924 (July-September 1973) --- Skylab 3 Earth view of Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and the Dead Sea.

Earth Observations taken by Expedition 38 crewmember.

NASA image acquired December 4, 2010 After a respite of less than a month, Klyuchevskaya Volcano resumed erupting in late November 2010. The Global Volcanism Program reported several ash plumes that rose up to 7.9 kilometers (26,000 feet) above sea level from November 25-29. According to the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) seismicity was slightly above background levels” on November 26th and 27th, and they reported observations of strombolian activity on December 1st and 2nd. A plume of ash, steam, and other volcanic gases streamed from Klyuchevskaya on December 4, 2010, visible in this natural-color image acquired by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) aboard the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite. In the large image, a much smaller plume is visible above neighboring Bezymianny Volcano. NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen & Robert Simmon, using ALI data from the NASA EO-1 team.

Earth observation taken by the Expedition 39 crew aboard the ISS. Image was released by astronaut on Twitter and downlinked in folder Fukuoka and Hita Japan, etc.

. iss068e047138 (Feb. 7, 2023) - The frozen coast of far eastern Canada and an icy Gulf of St. Lawrence are pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 265 miles above Quebec.

This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a 3-kilometer-wide impact crater with gullies all along the steep inner slopes.

Color satellite image of ice pack at the mouth of Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica. This glacier is one of the most studied in Antarctica, as part of climate change monitoring. Image collected on March 07, 2018 by Sentinel-2 satellites.

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Earth Observations taken by Expedition 34 crewmember.

STS059-S-085 (18 April 1994) --- This is a three-dimensional perspective view of part of Isla Isabela in the western Galapagos Islands. It was taken by the L-Band radar in HH polarization from the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C and X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) on the 40th orbit of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. This view was constructed by overlaying a SIR-C radar image on a U.S. Geological Survey digital elevation map. The image is centered at about .5 degrees south latitude and 91 degrees west longitude, and covers an area of 75 by 60 kilometers. The radar incidence angle at the center of the image is about 20 degrees. The western Galapagos Islands, which lie about 1200 kilometers west of Ecuador in the eastern Pacific, have six active volcanoes similar to the volcanoes found in Hawaii. Since the time of Charles Darwin's visit to the area in 1835, there have been over 60 recorded eruptions on these volcanoes. This SIR-C/X-SAR image of Alcedo and Sierra Negra volcanoes show

Earth observation taken by the Expedition 35 crew aboard the ISS.

Earth Observation taken during a day pass by the Expedition 40 crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Folder lists this as Canada.

Earth Observations taken by Expedition 34 crewmember.

Earth Observations taken by Expedition 34 crewmember.

AST-19-1550 (24 July 1975) --- A vertical view of the Lake Eyre Basin area in the state of South Australia in Australia, as photographed from the Apollo spacecraft in Earth orbit during the joint U.S.-USSR Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission. The picture was taken at an altitude of 241 kilometers (150 statute miles) with a 70mm Hasselblad camera using medium-speed Ektachrome QX-807 type film.

Earth Observations taken by Expedition 34 crewmember.

Earth Observations taken by Expedition 34 crewmember.

On June 15, 2016, the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASAs Earth Observing-1 satellite acquired a natural-color image of an area just inland from the coast of southwestern Greenland (120 kilometers southeast of Ilulisat and 500 kilometers north-northeast of Nuuk). According to Marco Tedesco, a professor at Columbia Universitys Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, melting in this area began relatively early in April but was not sustained. It started up again in May and grew into the watery June scene pictured above. Surface melt can directly contribute to sea level rise via runoff. It can also force its way through crevasses to the base of a glacier, temporarily speeding up ice flow and indirectly contributing to sea level rise. Also, ponding of meltwater can “darken” the ice sheets surface and lead to further melting. Read more a href=

Earth Observations taken by Expedition 34 crewmember.

This summer, with sea ice across the Arctic Ocean shrinking to below-average levels, a NASA airborne survey of polar ice just completed its first flights. Its target aquamarine pools of melt water on the ice surface that may be accelerating the overall sea ice retreat. NASAs Operation IceBridge completed the first research flight of its new 2016 Arctic summer campaign on July 13. The science flights, which continue through July 25, are collecting data on sea ice in a year following a record-warm winter in the Arctic. Read more a href= http //go.nasa.gov/29T6mxc rel= nofollow go.nasa.gov/29T6mxc /a Caption A large pool of melt water over sea ice, as seen from an Operation IceBridge flight over the Beaufort Sea on July 14, 2016. During this summer campaign, IceBridge will map the extent, frequency and depth of melt ponds like these to help scientists forecast the Arctic sea ice yearly minimum extent in September.

Color satellite image of Vatnajokull Glacier, Iceland in 1986. It is the largest and most voluminous ice cap in Iceland, and the second largest in area in Europe.

This view taken from orbit around Mars shows the sand dune that will be the first to be visited by NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover along its route to higher layers of Mount Sharp.

. iss069e060925 (Aug. 15, 2023) --- A portion of The Bahamas off the Atlantic coast of Florida is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 262 miles above.

Nazca lines from the aircraft Mysterious figures Nazca desert from the aircraft Copyright: xZoonar.com/MassimoxLamax 12149795

Earth observations taken by Expedition 38 crewmember. Crewmember indicates Galapagos. Image was released by astronaut on Twitter.

NASA's Airborne Snow Observatory is two instruments combined that provides information on every patch of snow, including how deep it is and how fast it's melting. This is a frame from an animation.

Satellite view of Mount Erebus, the tallest volcano in Antarctica. Situated on Ross Island, just off the coast of West Antarctica, Erebus is the southernmost active volcano on Earth. This image was taken on December 31, 2013 by Landsat 8 satellite.

jet engine glowing over clouds, golden rim light illuminating turbine face, aerial view of snowcovered

iss059e119235 (June 20, 2019) --- The International Space Station was orbiting 256 miles above the north African country of Libya when an Expedition 59 crewmember photographed the isolated volcanic crater of Waw an Namus, which is composed of dark ash and features three small saltwater lakes.

Earth observation taken during day pass by an Expedition 36 crew member on board the International Space Station (ISS).

Earth Observations taken by Expedition 34 crewmember.

Earth Observations taken by Expedition 34 crewmember.

West Candor Chasma

Artist's concept of a massive ice shelf in the Antarctic.

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Earth observation taken by the Expedition 39 crew aboard the ISS. Image was released by astronaut on Twitter and downlinked in folder Fukuoka and Hita Japan, etc.

Locust plagues in Palestine. Methods of fighting the locust plague. Crawlers covering the digging implements. 1930

Earth observation taken during a day pass by an Expedition 36 crew member on board the International Space Station (ISS).

Agriculture In The Desert, Al-Qassim Province, Saudi Arabia, True Colour Satellite Image. True colour satellite image of agriculture in the desert, north of the Saudi cities of Buraydah and Unaizah (bottom right), in the Al-Qassim Province, Saudi Arabia. Circular agricultural plots are visible on the image. Composite image using LANDSAT 7 data.

AST-01-042 (16 July 1975) --- An oblique view of unique cloud patterns over the Pacific Ocean caused by aircraft contrail shadows altering cumulus clouds and forming straight line clouds, as photographed from the Apollo spacecraft in Earth orbit during the joint U.S.-USSR Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission. This area is southwest of Los Angeles, California. This photograph was taken at an altitude of 177 kilometers (110 statute miles) with a 70mm Hasselblad camera using medium-speed Ektachrome QX-807 type film.

iss056e084388 (July 6, 2018) --- The eastern-flowing Amur River forms a portion of the border between northeastern China and far eastern Russia. At the time of this photograph, the International Space Station was orbiting almost 257 miles above the Strait of Tartary which separates mainland Asia from the Russian island of Sakhalin.

Top view of the salt lake mud sources. External similarity with craters. Mud healing springs Top view of the salt lake mud sources. External similarity with craters. Mud healing springs. Copyright: xZoonar.com/LeonidxEremeychukx 9801103

Mars' permanent North Polar cap is ringed by sand dunes. In the winter and spring the dunes are covered by a seasonal cap of dry ice as seen by NASA's by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft.

iss059e098991 (June 9, 2019) --- The highly saline Lake Elton in Russia, near the border with Kazakhstan, is the largest mineral lake in Europe. It was photographed from an altitude of 258 miles above the Earth's surface.

ISS026-E-015208 (6 Jan. 2011) --- Photographed by an Expedition 26 crew member on the International Space Station, this detailed photograph highlights the northern approach to Mount Everest from Tibet. Known as the northeast ridge route, climbers travel along the East Rongbuk Glacier (top right) to camp at the base of Changtse mountain. From this point at approximately 6,100 meters above sea level, the North Col--a sharp-edged pass carved by glaciers, center--is ascended to reach a series of progressively higher camps along the North Face of Everest, culminating in Camp VI at 8,230 meters above sea level. Climbers make their final push to the summit (not visible, just off the bottom edge of the image) from this altitude. While the near-nadir viewing angle--almost looking "straight down" from the International Space Station--tends to flatten the topography, crew members have also taken images that highlight the rugged nature of the area. Everest (or Sagarmatha in Nepali), located within

iss059e028115 (April 22, 2019) --- The frozen southern tip of Hudson Bay, which lies in between Ontario and Quebec, is pictured as the International Space Station orbited 258 miles above Canada.

The Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft is seen as it lands in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan with Expedition 61 crew members Christina Koch of NASA, Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, and Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency) Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020. Koch returned to Earth after logging 328 days in space --- the longest spaceflight in history by a woman --- as a member of Expeditions 59-60-61 on the International Space Station. Skvortsov and Parmitano returned after 201 days in space where they served as Expedition 60-61 crew members onboard the station.

Earth Observations taken by Expedition 34 crewmember.

Earth Observations taken by Expedition 34 crewmember.

Peru, Nazca, Aerial view of geoglyphs of Nazca and Palpa, UNESCO World Heritage

Earth Observation taken during a day pass by the Expedition 40 crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Folder lists this as EOS South Africa Cape Town JoBurg Vredefort Crater.

. iss068e025652 (Nov. 30, 2022) --- The coast of Turkmenistan on the Garabogazköl Basin east of the Caspian Sea is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 260 miles above the Central Asian nation.

iss064e000448 (Oct. 25, 2020) --- Emi Koussi, a high pyroclastic shield volcano in northern Chad, is also the highest mountain in the Sahara. The International Space Station was orbiting above the Tibesti Mountains in Chad when this photograph was taken.

ISS042E237320 (02/09/2015) ---A weather observation image taken from the International Space Station tweeted out to social media fans by NASA astronaut Terry Virts. He added this comment Enormous #thunderstorm over the jungles of #Africa .

ISS009-E-20648 (28 August 2004) --- This view of the eye of HurricaneFrances was photographed with a digital still camera from the International Space Station at 12:53:54 GMT, August 28, 2004.

ISS005-E-11189 (25 August 2002) --- Calanscio Sand Sea, Libya is featured in this digital image photographed by an Expedition 5 crewmember on the International Space Station (ISS). A plume of black smoke blowing westward is silhouetted against yellow linear dunes in the great sand sea of northeast Libya. Smoke from flares at remote well heads is commonly seen by astronauts flying over the Sahara Desert. NASA scientists studying the Station imagery had the following observations about the image. The plume dispersal pattern visible at the left edge of the image may be due to upper-level winds or gravitational settling of heavier particulates. The regular pattern of linear dunes is generated by two major winds: the dominant north wind (north is towards the top right) determines the orientation of the sand dunes. Gentler easterly winds, as were blowing when this view was taken, make the dunes asymmetric, with a gentle windward (west) slope and an over steeped downwind slope. Some over stee

Calving front of an ice shelf in West Antarctica. The traditional view on ice shelves, the floating extensions of seaward glaciers, has been that they mostly lose ice by shedding icebergs. A new study by NASA and university researchers has found that warm ocean waters melting the ice sheets from underneath account for 55 percent of all ice shelf mass loss in Antarctica. This image was taken during the 2012 Antarctic campaign of NASA's Operation IceBridge, a mission that provided data for the new ice shelf study. Read more a href= http //www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/earth20130613.html rel= nofollow www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/earth20130613.html /a

Aerial view of nazca lines representing a triangle in a desert, Nazca, Peru

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