Mount Everest from the International Space Station

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Astronaut Dan Bursch, a member of the Expedition 4 crew on the International Space Station, observed Mt. Everest in late March 2002. This detailed image of Everest, the highest (29,035 feet, 8850 meters) mountain in the world, shows early morning light on the eastern Kangshung Face. The mountains appear to jump out of the picture because the image was taken with low sunlight using an electronic still camera equipped with an 800 mm lens. Astronaut Bursch describes passing over Mt. Everest as part of his 120-day report, which can be viewed at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/redirect?http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/crew/exp4/120days.html.

Other images of Everest can be viewed from an interactive tutorial, Find Mt. Everest From Space (http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/education/Everest/default.htm). The tutorial features astronaut photographs of the Himalayas, interactive graphics that illustrate key geographic features for locating Mt. Everest, and information on the geology of the region. The lesson concludes with a test of your ability to identify Everest in different photographs taken from the Space Shuttle.

The image was taken in March 20, 2002, from the Space Station Alpha Image ISS004-E-8852 and was provided by the Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory at Johnson Space Center. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA-JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.

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