Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Photographic Highlights

ISS010 Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Photographic Highlights

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ISS010-E-23748

photo ID ISS010-E-23748
ISS010-E-23748 Click the photo number to access all resolutions available and the database record.

Spring Thaw, Straits of Mackinac: The Mackinac Bridge spans a stretch of water five miles wide between Michigan’s lower and upper peninsulas. The strait connects Lakes Michigan (left) and Huron (right). The bridge is a combination of pier-supported spans with a high, central suspension sector that allows passage of lake steamers. The suspension sector is the longest in the Americas (8, 614 feet or 1.6 miles). Prior to construction of the bridge, the only passage across the straits was by ferryboat.
This pair of images shows the Mackinac Straits while they were still frozen (top) and as they began to thaw (below). The March 22 view shows shipping lanes opened by ice breakers. A narrow passage connects the cleared shipping channel to the small town of St. Ignace at the north end of the bridge (Mackinaw City appears at the south end). The April view shows the ice broken into a series of irregular rafts that appear gray against bright water. The whitish appearance of the water is not snow or ice, but instead is sunlight glinting off the water back to camera. The shipping channel is maintained even through remnants of the ice mass, but the ice ridges can be hazardous to shipping until the last of the ice breaks up.

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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

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Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

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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:
Server: 1