|
REFINE
Browse All : International Space Station (ISS) from 1943 and 28 April 2007
1-1 of 1
Description
ISS015-E-05481 (28 April 2007) --- Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Maryland is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 15 crewmember on the International Space Station. The Patuxent River Naval Air Station - or NAS Patuxent River -- is located on a small peninsula, bordered by the Patuxent River to the north-northeast and Chesapeake Bay to the east and southeast. The air station was commissioned in 1943, replacing farmlands that had occupied the peninsula less than a year earlier. The primary purpose of "Pax River" (as the site is known by the US Navy) was to consolidate geographically-dispersed air testing facilities that existed in the US prior to World War II into a central location. The NAS Patuxent River is now the primary center for naval air technology research, development, testing, and support, as well as being the location of the Navy Test Pilot School. The NAS Patuxent River is used frequently as a geographic reference point and training target by station crews. This view illustrates why --the distinctive pattern of the airfield runways and the station's location in Chesapeake Bay make it easy to spot from orbit, and provides sharp land cover boundaries for camera focusing practice. This particular image also captures surface water current patterns around the peninsula. Wind and wave-roughened water surfaces appear silver-gray due to increased reflectance of light back towards the camera (sunglint), whereas dark blue water patches indicate water smoothed by the presence of oils and surfactants. A zone of mixing from converging shoreline currents extends northeast into the bay from Cedar Point.
1-1 of 1
|
