A VIEW FROM NASA'S SHUTTLE ANTELOPE VALLEY MAPPED BY RADAR.Byline: Daily NewsPALMDALE - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), civilian agency of the U.S. federal government with the mission of conducting research and developing operational programs in the areas of space exploration, artificial satellites (see satellite, artificial), released a computer-animated 3-D flyover of the Antelope Valley, created with detailed mapping data from NASA's recent shuttle radar topography mission The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) is an international research effort that obtained digital elevation models on a near-global scale from 56 °S to 60 °N, to generate the most complete high-resolution digital topographic database of Earth to date. . The video, released on NASA's satellite television channel, zooms along a 90-mile stretch of the San Andreas Fault San Andreas fault, great fracture (see fault) of the earth's crust in California. It is the principal fault of an intricate network of faults extending more than 600 mi (965 km) from NW California to the Gulf of California. to the intersection with the Garlock Fault near Gorman - which NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. called one of the region's greatest quake hazards. Stills from the video are available at www.jpl.nasa.gov/pictures/srtm. The February flight of the space shuttle carried a Jet Propulsion Laboratory “JPL” redirects here. For other uses, see JPL (disambiguation). Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a NASA research center located in the cities of Pasadena and La Cañada Flintridge, near Los Angeles, California, USA. experiment that used a 200-foot antenna boom - the largest structure ever extended from the shuttle - to gather mapping data over almost 80 percent of Earth's surface. In what has been called ``the most successful science shuttle mission ever,'' the huge amount of data returned from the shuttle radar topography mission represents a giant leap forward in knowledge of Earth's surface, JPL officials said. The 3-D images of Earth's surface will be used for a wide variety of ecological, geological, meteorological, sociological and civil engineering projects, they said. Similar imagery of the entire Earth will be available in coming months, JPL officials said. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) A three-dimensional image from the space shuttle looks northwest up Pine Canyon Road, which runs along the San Andreas Fault, west of Lake Hughes. The San Gabriel Mountains San Gabriel Mountains, S Calif., E and NE of Los Angeles, running c.50 mi (80 km) westward from Cajon Pass. San Antonio Peak (10,080 ft/3,072 m) is the highest of the range. Citrus fruits are raised on the southern foothills. are on the left side of the photo and the Tehachapi Mountains on the upper right. NASA's detailed topographic maps will be used by geologists studying fault dynamics. (2 -- color) Quail Lake in the far western Antelope Valley shows as an irregular dark patch, with the Golden State Freeway The Golden State Freeway is a north-south freeway running through Kern County and Los Angeles County, California. Originally built as U.S. Highway 99, it was re-signed as Interstate 5 in 1964. visible as a curving gray line across the upper left and the San Andreas Fault beside Pine Canyon Road down the center. NASA |
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