Earth from Space - Image Description

STS51B-147-0016 Mississippi River, Illinois May 1985
This panoramic south-looking view shows the Mississippi River entering the scene to the left of the bottom center (north) near Canton, Missouri. The Mississippi River exits the scene just to the north of where the Illinois River enters the Mississippi River at the top center of the image. This part of the middle Mississippi River is a rich grain and livestock area, a part of the Great Corn Belt Region of the Midwestern United States. The Illinois River can be seen entering the scene at the left center of the image. The Missouri River and the extreme northeastern portion of the Ozark Plateau of east central Missouri are visible in the top right quadrant of the image. In the bottom right quarter of the image, the Clarence Cannon Reservoir, a recreational lake on the Salt River, is discernible. The streaks visible in the upper left and upper right portions of the image are caused by the glare of the sun on the Space Shuttle window.

This service is provided by the International Space Station program and the JSC Earth Science & Remote Sensing Unit, ARES Division, Exploration Integration Science Directorate.