ISS002 Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Photographic Highlights

ISS002 Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Photographic Highlights

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ISS002-707-87 Effect of Drought on Great Salt Lake: Great Salt Lake serves as a striking visual marker for astronauts orbiting over North America. A sharp line across its center is caused by the restriction in water flow from the railroad causeway. The eye-catching colors of the lake stem from the fact that Great Salt Lake is hypersaline, typically 3-5 times saltier than the ocean, and the high salinities support sets of plants and animals that affect the light-absorbing qualities of the water. North of the causeway salinities are higher, and the water turns red from the pigments of halophilic bacteria. In the shallower corners of the lake, earthen dikes mark large salt evaporation works, which take on the jewel tones of turquoise, russet, amber, and pearl white.
The detailed image shows some of the salt works operated by Great Salt Lake Minerals and Chemicals Corporation near West Warren, Utah, on the eastern shore of the lake. Evaporative salt harvesting at Great Salt Lake is an important source of minerals for industrial uses. The lake contains an estimated 5 billion tons of salt, with 2.5 million additional tons washing in each year. Extraction rates are slightly higher than the amount added to the lake each year. In addition to sodium chloride, the ponds near West Warren are used to extract potassium sulfate and magnesium chloride, which are used to make fertilizers.
Space Station astronauts have recorded the decline in lake levels in response to a regional 5-year drought taking both detailed views and broad views of the entire lake. As lake levels have declined the salt works have become islands in the middle of a dry lakebed. Seasonal fluctuations in Great Salt Lake produce annual lows every fall, but there are significant longer-term fluctuations in lake levels relating to the climate. Great Salt Lake hit a 22-year low at 4,198 feet in the fall of 2002, and a near-record low again in October 2003. The lowest level ever recorded was 4,191 feet in 1963, and the highest levels were 4,212 feet in June 1986 and April 1987. Experimental scientific forecasts predict that lake levels will begin gradually increasing again, but the U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook indicates only limited improvement from this snow season because the water deficits are so high.
Around the world, lake levels are an excellent indicator of local climate. Repeat observations over time allow comparisons and levels rise and fall in response to droughts and the broader climate patterns that are linked to droughts.
Less-detailed images of the decline in the Great Salt Lake as seen from Terra satellite’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor were previously shown on Earth Observatory. MODIS has also documented dust storms related to the drought.
Space Station images of Salt Lake City were also previously featured on Earth Observatory.

ISS002-E-6372 Coral reef, Tuamotu Archipelago: This comparison of Landsat 7 ETM+ and Digital photography from the ISS illustrates how astronaut photography can be an important source of supplemental data to studies using satellite imagery. In this set of images the key fishery habitat to be mapped is the reticulated reef lagoon. At Landsat’s 30 m spatial resolution there is not enough information about the lagoon structure — the most important reef structures are too small to be seen on Landsat images. By combining astronaut photography from ISS that has 5-m resolution, scientists were able to get a map of the area that meets the needs of local resource managers.
Why Unique: Detailed photographs of reefs taken from the ISS are being used around the world to serve as base maps for field cartography during surveys of the geomorphological and ecological zones of the reefs. The high spatial resolution of the images (about 5 m/pixel) make them highly suited for comparison to what is seen by divers in the water.
Digital photographs from the Space Station are more than just pretty pictures, they contain 3 bands of remote sensing data. NOAA scientists recently reported success in measuring shallow bathymetry (the depth of the water around the reefs) from ISS reef photographs.
ISS002-E-6372, 21 May 2001, 800 mm lens
The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth, http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov

Scientific references:
Andréfouët, S., J. A. Robinson, C. Hu, G. C. Feldman, B. Salvat, C. Payri, and F. E. Muller-Karger. 2003. Influence of the spatial resolution of SeaWiFS, Landsat 7, SPOT and International Space Station data on landscape parameters of Pacific Ocean atolls. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing, 29(2):210-218.
Stumpf, R. P., K. Holderied, J. A. Robinson, G. Feldman, N. Kuring. Mapping water depths in clear water from space. Proceedings of the 13th Biennial Coastal Zone Conference, Baltimore, Maryland, 13-17 July 2003, 5 pp.
Andréfouët, S., and J. A. Robinson. 2003. The use of Space Shuttle images to improve cloud detection in mapping of tropical coral reef environments. International Journal of Remote Sensing 24(1):143-149.

ISS002-E-6913 îles Glorieuses: The îles Eparses (scattered islets) dot the Indian Ocean to the west and north of Madagascar. The islands were protected by the French government in 1975 because of their importance for turtles and seabird nesting.
The above photograph (ISS002-E-6913) shows details of the reefs surrounding îles Glorieuses, one group in the îles Eparses, and was taken 17 June 2001 from the International Space Station. The image was used to plan the 2002-2003 field expeditions conducted by Agence pour la Recherche et la Valorisation Marines, based in Réunion (ARVAM) and partners. The photograph served as a base map for field cartography of the geomorphological and ecological zones of the reefs. These maps supported biological inventories and surveys of coral reef health using the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network and Reef Check protocols.
The high spatial resolution of these astronaut photographs (about 5 m/pixel ) captures the detail needed to support this kind of detailed field research. Images of coral reefs taken from the International Space Station are one of the science themes for the Crew Earth Observations Project.
Research in the îles Eparses is part of a 5-year project coordinated through a French initiative to preserve and restore coral reefs, IFRECOR (Initiative Française pour les Récifs Corallines). The project was created following severe coral bleaching events in the region in 1998.
The next step in the IFRECOR project is to get more detailed information on another island, Juan de Nova. Fortunately, for these marine biologists, the Space Station Expedition 5 crew took a detailed photograph of this small island on 11 August 2002, and it is ready for them to use in the field (see ISS005-E-9412).
Text provided by J.-Pascal Quod (ARVAM). More information on the studies of the importance of the îles Eparses can be found in Reef Encounter vol. 32, pages 33-36.

ISS002-E-5325 Niagara Falls: Mark Twain once said of Niagara Falls: "Although it was wonderful to see all that water tumbling down, it would be even more wonderful to see all that water tumbling up."
Viewing the tumbling waters of the Niagara River from the microgravity environment of the International Space Station, astronauts recently acquired this image. They were at an orbit of 207 nautical miles (383 km) above the Falls, and used a digital camera with an 800 mm lens. In taking these kinds of detailed images, Space Station crewmembers have compensated for the relative motion of the Earth, thus achieving spatial resolutions of less than 6 m and surpassing the previous records for spatial resolution from human spaceflight. Details of the city of Niagara Falls are easy to see; for spatial reference, the American falls is 328 m wide (1075 ft), and the Horseshoe Falls is 675 m wide (2200 ft).
The Niagara River forms the U.S.-Canadian Border and allows Lake Erie to drain northwest into Lake Ontario. Lake Ontario is about 100 m lower than Lake Erie; the Falls and the rapids account for most of the elevation difference. The energy derived from water falling over the falls, with average total flows of 750,000 U.S. gallons (2.8 million liters) per second, fuel multiple power plants on the river. Power Plants downstream from the plant generate 4.4 million kilowatts of power for both Ontario and New York.

ISS002-E-5654 Tierras Bajas Deforestation, Bolivia:This digital photograph of deforestation associated with the Tierras Bajas project in eastern Bolivia was taken by astronauts from the International Space Station on April 16, 2001. The spatial resolution of the original digital photograph is about 6 meters per pixel.
The area east of Santa Cruz was originally dry tropical forest. As part of the Tierras Bajas project, people have been resettled from the Altiplano to cultivate soybeans. Each agricultural "pin wheel" pattern is centered on a small community. The communities are then spaced evenly across the landscape at 5-km intervals. Roadways can be seen connecting each town center.
See previous images of this area posted to Earth Observatory:
Landsat & aerial photography
Landsat time series

ISS002-E-5677 Atolls in the Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia: This image of the Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia, illustrates diversity in the morphology of atolls, one of the major types of coral reef formations. A typical atoll structure is a lagoon surrounded by a closed rim of cays and shallow spillways that control the exchange of water between the ocean and the lagoon. However, like human beings, this general scheme may vary according to the history of each individual atoll, resulting in a high diversity of morphology, especially for small atolls. On Nukutavake (138°48' W 19°17' S, 6.2 km2), what was a lagoon on is now dry and completely covered by vegetation. Images such as these are useful to classify and study the atolls according to their spatial structure. ISS002-E-5401= Atolls in the Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia: This image of the Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia, illustrates diversity in the morphology of atolls, one of the major types of coral reef formations. A typical atoll structure is a lagoon surrounded by a closed rim of cays and shallow spillways that control the exchange of water between the ocean and the lagoon. However, like human beings, this general scheme may vary according to the history of each individual atoll, resulting in a high diversity of morphology, especially for small atolls. Pinaki (3.54 km2) has a drying shallow lagoon still connected to the ocean via a single narrow spillway. Images such as these are useful to classify and study the atolls according to their spatial structure.

ISS002-E-6333 Manhattan: It was a fine spring day on April 28, 2001, in New York City when the Expedition 2 crew of Space Station Alpha acquired this digital photograph. This ESC image was taken of Manhattan using an 800 mm lens (see inset) from an orbit altitude of 383 km. This particular lens can achieve spatial resolutions less than 6 meters.
A detailed slice of the full image permits identification of a number of well-known landmarks of the Big Apple. It is late morning and the view is slightly oblique so that both the sunlit sides and shadows of taller buildings give perspective and depth to the scene. The lower end of a greening Central Park is to the upper right. Broadway angles across the center, breaking with the grid of city blocks. Madison Square Gardens is the circular feature at the left edge of the image. The Empire State Building casts its profile shadow northwestward towards Broadway. The Rockefeller Center complex is near the middle of this slice, and the United Nations Headquarters is located on the East River to the lower right.

ISS002-E-8683 Ash Plume Streams from Mt. Etna, Sicily: When this southward-looking photograph was taken by the Expedition 2 crew aboard the International Space Station, the city of Catania (in shadow, ~25 km SSE of the volcano) was covered by a layer of ash and Fontanarossa International Airport was closed. On that day an ash cloud was reported to have reached a maximum height of ~5.2 km. Plumes from two sources are visible here—a dense, darker mass from one of the three summit craters and a lighter, lower one.
The record of historical volcanism of Mt. Etna is one of the longest in the world, dating back to 1500 BC. Two styles of activity are typical: explosive eruptions, sometimes with minor lava flows, from the summit craters and flank eruptions from fissures.
Additional sources of information: Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program Italy's Volcanoes

ISS002-E-6638 Greenwich, Where East Meets West: Greenwich is situated on the south shore of a sharp bend in the River Thames, just southeast of the City of London and is part of Greater London. Here is located the world famous Royal Observatory where the Prime Meridian, dividing East and West Longitude, was defined by international agreement in 1884. In this detailed portion of a larger area photographed by the crew of the International Space Station on May 8, 2000, the location of the Observatory itself is roughly the small, light area in the northern, wooded part of Greenwich Park. The River Thames with its port facilities and industrial sites winds its way, left to right, across the scene. The large, white, circular structure is the Millennium Dome. Over 1 km in diameter and 50 m high, it was built as an exhibition center to commemorate the new millennium, which chronologically began at the Prime Meridian.

ISS002-E-6176 Baku, Azerbaijan: Baku is Azerbaijan’s major city, and the oil capital of the Caspian region. This detailed view taken by the Expedition 2 crew on the International Space Station shows details of the city, including the extensive port facilities, and part of the large web of offshore oil platforms in the Caspian Sea. The oil platforms off Baku were built in the 1950s and 1960s, and were the first offshore oil-drilling efforts in the world. A larger offshore complex (not pictured here) called the Oily Rocks included multistory dormitories, stores, and other infrastructures to support the thousands of workers employed by the oil industry. Today, multinational oil exploration, sea-level rise (the Caspian sea has risen more than 2 meters in the past 20 years), offshore platform maintenance, and environmental degradation are all hot topics in Baku.

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ISS002-707-87	Effect of Drought on Great Salt Lake: Great Salt Lake serves as a striking visual marker for astronauts orbiting over North America. A sharp line across its center is caused by the restriction in water flow from the railroad causeway. The eye-catching colors of the lake stem from the fact that Great Salt Lake is hypersaline, typically 3-5 times saltier than the ocean, and the high salinities support sets of plants and animals that affect the light-absorbing qualities of the water. North of the causeway salinities are higher, and the water turns red from the pigments of halophilic bacteria. In the shallower corners of the lake, earthen dikes mark large salt evaporation works, which take on the jewel tones of turquoise, russet, amber, and pearl white. The detailed image shows some of the salt works operated by Great Salt Lake Minerals and Chemicals Corporation near West Warren, Utah, on the eastern shore of the lake. Evaporative salt harvesting at Great Salt Lake is an important source of minerals for industrial uses. The lake contains an estimated 5 billion tons of salt, with 2.5 million additional tons washing in each year. Extraction rates are slightly higher than the amount added to the lake each year. In addition to sodium chloride, the ponds near West Warren are used to extract potassium sulfate and magnesium chloride, which are used to make fertilizers. Space Station astronauts have recorded the decline in lake levels in response to a regional 5-year drought taking both detailed views and broad views of the entire lake. As lake levels have declined the salt works have become islands in the middle of a dry lakebed. Seasonal fluctuations in Great Salt Lake produce annual lows every fall, but there are significant longer-term fluctuations in lake levels relating to the climate. Great Salt Lake hit a 22-year low at 4,198 feet in the fall of 2002, and a near-record low again in October 2003. The lowest level ever recorded was 4,191 feet in 1963, and the highest levels were 4,212 feet in June 1986 and April 1987. Experimental scientific forecasts predict that lake levels will begin gradually increasing again, but the U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook indicates only limited improvement from this snow season because the water deficits are so high. Around the world, lake levels are an excellent indicator of local climate. Repeat observations over time allow comparisons and levels rise and fall in response to droughts and the broader climate patterns that are linked to droughts. Less-detailed images of the decline in the Great Salt Lake as seen from Terra satellite’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor were previously shown on Earth Observatory. MODIS has also documented dust storms related to the drought. Space Station images of Salt Lake City were also previously featured on Earth Observatory.
ISS002-E-6372	Coral reef, Tuamotu Archipelago: This comparison of Landsat 7 ETM+ and Digital photography from the ISS illustrates how astronaut photography can be an important source of supplemental data to studies using satellite imagery. In this set of images the key fishery habitat to be mapped is the reticulated reef lagoon. At Landsat’s 30 m spatial resolution there is not enough information about the lagoon structure — the most important reef structures are too small to be seen on Landsat images. By combining astronaut photography from ISS that has 5-m resolution, scientists were able to get a map of the area that meets the needs of local resource managers. Why Unique: Detailed photographs of reefs taken from the ISS are being used around the world to serve as base maps for field cartography during surveys of the geomorphological and ecological zones of the reefs. The high spatial resolution of the images (about 5 m/pixel) make them highly suited for comparison to what is seen by divers in the water. Digital photographs from the Space Station are more than just pretty pictures, they contain 3 bands of remote sensing data. NOAA scientists recently reported success in measuring shallow bathymetry (the depth of the water around the reefs) from ISS reef photographs. ISS002-E-6372, 21 May 2001, 800 mm lens The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth, http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov Scientific references: Andréfouët, S., J. A. Robinson, C. Hu, G. C. Feldman, B. Salvat, C. Payri, and F. E. Muller-Karger. 2003. Influence of the spatial resolution of SeaWiFS, Landsat 7, SPOT and International Space Station data on landscape parameters of Pacific Ocean atolls. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing, 29(2):210-218. Stumpf, R. P., K. Holderied, J. A. Robinson, G. Feldman, N. Kuring. Mapping water depths in clear water from space. Proceedings of the 13th Biennial Coastal Zone Conference, Baltimore, Maryland, 13-17 July 2003, 5 pp. Andréfouët, S., and J. A. Robinson. 2003. The use of Space Shuttle images to improve cloud detection in mapping of tropical coral reef environments. International Journal of Remote Sensing 24(1):143-149.
ISS002-E-6913	îles Glorieuses: The îles Eparses (scattered islets) dot the Indian Ocean to the west and north of Madagascar. The islands were protected by the French government in 1975 because of their importance for turtles and seabird nesting. The above photograph (ISS002-E-6913) shows details of the reefs surrounding îles Glorieuses, one group in the îles Eparses, and was taken 17 June 2001 from the International Space Station. The image was used to plan the 2002-2003 field expeditions conducted by Agence pour la Recherche et la Valorisation Marines, based in Réunion (ARVAM) and partners. The photograph served as a base map for field cartography of the geomorphological and ecological zones of the reefs. These maps supported biological inventories and surveys of coral reef health using the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network and Reef Check protocols. The high spatial resolution of these astronaut photographs (about 5 m/pixel ) captures the detail needed to support this kind of detailed field research. Images of coral reefs taken from the International Space Station are one of the science themes for the Crew Earth Observations Project. Research in the îles Eparses is part of a 5-year project coordinated through a French initiative to preserve and restore coral reefs, IFRECOR (Initiative Française pour les Récifs Corallines). The project was created following severe coral bleaching events in the region in 1998. The next step in the IFRECOR project is to get more detailed information on another island, Juan de Nova. Fortunately, for these marine biologists, the Space Station Expedition 5 crew took a detailed photograph of this small island on 11 August 2002, and it is ready for them to use in the field (see ISS005-E-9412). Text provided by J.-Pascal Quod (ARVAM). More information on the studies of the importance of the îles Eparses can be found in Reef Encounter vol. 32, pages 33-36.
ISS002-E-5325	Niagara Falls: Mark Twain once said of Niagara Falls: "Although it was wonderful to see all that water tumbling down, it would be even more wonderful to see all that water tumbling up." Viewing the tumbling waters of the Niagara River from the microgravity environment of the International Space Station, astronauts recently acquired this image. They were at an orbit of 207 nautical miles (383 km) above the Falls, and used a digital camera with an 800 mm lens. In taking these kinds of detailed images, Space Station crewmembers have compensated for the relative motion of the Earth, thus achieving spatial resolutions of less than 6 m and surpassing the previous records for spatial resolution from human spaceflight. Details of the city of Niagara Falls are easy to see; for spatial reference, the American falls is 328 m wide (1075 ft), and the Horseshoe Falls is 675 m wide (2200 ft). The Niagara River forms the U.S.-Canadian Border and allows Lake Erie to drain northwest into Lake Ontario. Lake Ontario is about 100 m lower than Lake Erie; the Falls and the rapids account for most of the elevation difference. The energy derived from water falling over the falls, with average total flows of 750,000 U.S. gallons (2.8 million liters) per second, fuel multiple power plants on the river. Power Plants downstream from the plant generate 4.4 million kilowatts of power for both Ontario and New York.
ISS002-E-5654	Tierras Bajas Deforestation, Bolivia:This digital photograph of deforestation associated with the Tierras Bajas project in eastern Bolivia was taken by astronauts from the International Space Station on April 16, 2001. The spatial resolution of the original digital photograph is about 6 meters per pixel. The area east of Santa Cruz was originally dry tropical forest. As part of the Tierras Bajas project, people have been resettled from the Altiplano to cultivate soybeans. Each agricultural "pin wheel" pattern is centered on a small community. The communities are then spaced evenly across the landscape at 5-km intervals. Roadways can be seen connecting each town center. See previous images of this area posted to Earth Observatory: Landsat & aerial photography Landsat time series
ISS002-E-5677	Atolls in the Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia: This image of the Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia, illustrates diversity in the morphology of atolls, one of the major types of coral reef formations. A typical atoll structure is a lagoon surrounded by a closed rim of cays and shallow spillways that control the exchange of water between the ocean and the lagoon. However, like human beings, this general scheme may vary according to the history of each individual atoll, resulting in a high diversity of morphology, especially for small atolls. On Nukutavake (138°48' W 19°17' S, 6.2 km2), what was a lagoon on is now dry and completely covered by vegetation. Images such as these are useful to classify and study the atolls according to their spatial structure. ISS002-E-5401= Atolls in the Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia: This image of the Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia, illustrates diversity in the morphology of atolls, one of the major types of coral reef formations. A typical atoll structure is a lagoon surrounded by a closed rim of cays and shallow spillways that control the exchange of water between the ocean and the lagoon. However, like human beings, this general scheme may vary according to the history of each individual atoll, resulting in a high diversity of morphology, especially for small atolls. Pinaki (3.54 km2) has a drying shallow lagoon still connected to the ocean via a single narrow spillway. Images such as these are useful to classify and study the atolls according to their spatial structure.
ISS002-E-6333	Manhattan: It was a fine spring day on April 28, 2001, in New York City when the Expedition 2 crew of Space Station Alpha acquired this digital photograph. This ESC image was taken of Manhattan using an 800 mm lens (see inset) from an orbit altitude of 383 km. This particular lens can achieve spatial resolutions less than 6 meters. A detailed slice of the full image permits identification of a number of well-known landmarks of the Big Apple. It is late morning and the view is slightly oblique so that both the sunlit sides and shadows of taller buildings give perspective and depth to the scene. The lower end of a greening Central Park is to the upper right. Broadway angles across the center, breaking with the grid of city blocks. Madison Square Gardens is the circular feature at the left edge of the image. The Empire State Building casts its profile shadow northwestward towards Broadway. The Rockefeller Center complex is near the middle of this slice, and the United Nations Headquarters is located on the East River to the lower right.
ISS002-E-8683	Ash Plume Streams from Mt. Etna, Sicily: When this southward-looking photograph was taken by the Expedition 2 crew aboard the International Space Station, the city of Catania (in shadow, ~25 km SSE of the volcano) was covered by a layer of ash and Fontanarossa International Airport was closed. On that day an ash cloud was reported to have reached a maximum height of ~5.2 km. Plumes from two sources are visible here—a dense, darker mass from one of the three summit craters and a lighter, lower one. The record of historical volcanism of Mt. Etna is one of the longest in the world, dating back to 1500 BC. Two styles of activity are typical: explosive eruptions, sometimes with minor lava flows, from the summit craters and flank eruptions from fissures. Additional sources of information: Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program Italy's Volcanoes
ISS002-E-6638	Greenwich, Where East Meets West: Greenwich is situated on the south shore of a sharp bend in the River Thames, just southeast of the City of London and is part of Greater London. Here is located the world famous Royal Observatory where the Prime Meridian, dividing East and West Longitude, was defined by international agreement in 1884. In this detailed portion of a larger area photographed by the crew of the International Space Station on May 8, 2000, the location of the Observatory itself is roughly the small, light area in the northern, wooded part of Greenwich Park. The River Thames with its port facilities and industrial sites winds its way, left to right, across the scene. The large, white, circular structure is the Millennium Dome. Over 1 km in diameter and 50 m high, it was built as an exhibition center to commemorate the new millennium, which chronologically began at the Prime Meridian.
ISS002-E-6176	Baku, Azerbaijan: Baku is Azerbaijan’s major city, and the oil capital of the Caspian region. This detailed view taken by the Expedition 2 crew on the International Space Station shows details of the city, including the extensive port facilities, and part of the large web of offshore oil platforms in the Caspian Sea. The oil platforms off Baku were built in the 1950s and 1960s, and were the first offshore oil-drilling efforts in the world. A larger offshore complex (not pictured here) called the Oily Rocks included multistory dormitories, stores, and other infrastructures to support the thousands of workers employed by the oil industry. Today, multinational oil exploration, sea-level rise (the Caspian sea has risen more than 2 meters in the past 20 years), offshore platform maintenance, and environmental degradation are all hot topics in Baku.

This service is provided by the International Space Station program and the JSC Astromaterials Research & Exploration Science Directorate. Recommended Citation: Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center. "The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth." .
	NASA Responsible Official: Tracy Calhoun Curator: jsc-earthweb@mail.nasa.gov Contributors: Earth Sciences Web Team	National Aeronautics and Space Administration Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center	International Space Station National Laboratory Last Update:
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