Panama Canal | |||
The Panama Canal is a 50-mile long engineering wonder connecting the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Completed by the United States in 1914, it runs southeastward from Colon, through the man-made Gatun Lake, to Panama City on the Pacific side of the Isthmus of Panama. The canal, a major artery of international shipping, uses a series of massive locks, manmade lakes, and water supplied by the copious tropical rainfall of the region to lift and lower transiting ships a height of 85 feet over the continental divide.
Astronaut photograph ISS006-E-23743 was taken with an Electronic Still Camera equipped with an 85 mm lens, and is 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. Recommend this Image to a Friend Back to: Newsroom |
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Earth Observatory About the Earth Observatory Please send comments or questions to: eobmail@eodomo.gsfc.nasa.gov Responsible NASA official: Yoram Kaufman |