Santiago de Chile

Santiago de Chile, Chile: Chile’s capital city stands in excellent detail in the middle of this view. An airport appears on the northwest margin of the built-up area and numerous small farms appear as green rectangles around the city on the left (west) side of the view. The right side of the view is dominated by the steep slopes and peaks of the Andes Mountains. Snow can be seen on highest peaks all down the right (east) side of the view although the photo was taken in the summer of the southern hemisphere. Santiago routinely appears partly obscured under industrial haze on Shuttle photographs. Haze accumulates partly because the city lies in a basin at the foot of the Andes Mountains (protected from wind), and partly because the city has grown to a huge size (more than 5.3 million-1991 statistics).

Photo and caption thanks to:
Earth Sciences and Image Analysis, NASA-Johnson Space Center. 29 Aug. 2002. "Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Photographic Highlights." http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/debrief/STS088/topFiles/STS088-705-62.htm>.

Next

Back to

South America from Space Photo Gallery

South America Photo Gallery