| ISS017 Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Photographic Highlights |
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| ISS017-E-7322 |
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| Cordillera Huayhuash, Peruvian Andes: This astronaut
photograph was taken looking east as the International Space Station
was flying about 100 kilometers (about 62 miles) off the Peruvian
coast and shows Cordillera Huayhuash (pronounced “Why-wash”). Clouds
are banked up on the east side, snow covers all higher slopes and
mountain peaks, and glaciers occupy lower slopes. This prominent but
short mountain range (25 kilometers in length) boasts twenty peaks of
remarkable steepness and ridge sharpness. Although only 100
kilometers from the coastline, six of the peaks reach above 6,000
meters (more than 19,500 feet); the highest is Nevado Yerupajá,
Peru’s second highest peak, variously estimated as 6,617 and 6,635
meters high. Widely considered the most spectacular peak in South America, Yerupajá is so steep that it has seldom been climbed. The best climbing approach is from the southwest, the face seen in this view. Yerupajá is locally known as El Carnicero (“The Butcher”) because of its blade-like ridges, typical of mountains that have been heavily eroded by glacial ice. Other features created by the erosive effect of flowing ice are small glacial lakes, which often vary in color due to different amounts of fine mud being fed into them by meltwater from under the glaciers. During the ice ages, the glaciers advanced many kilometers outward from the cordillera, occupying all the surrounding valley floors (all of which lie above 3,000 meters), producing U-shape valleys. |
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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." . |
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