Image: Iceberg A22A, South Atlantic Ocean

Description: This astronaut photograph illustrates the remains of a giant iceberg—designated A22A— that broke off Antarctica in 2002. The iceberg was photographed at a location of 49.9 degrees south latitude, 23.8 degrees west longitude, which is about a third of the distance from South America towards Cape Town, South Africa. A22A is one of the largest icebergs to drift as far north as 50 degrees south latitude, bringing it beneath the daylight path of the International Space Station (ISS). Crew members aboard the ISS were able to locate the ice mass and photograph it, despite the great masses of clouds that often accompany winter storms in the Southern Ocean. The crew’s viewing angle was oblique (not looking straight down) from a point to the west of the berg, and the time of day was early afternoon, as shown by the orientation of the cloud shadows. Dimensions of A22A in early June were 49.9 by 23.4 kilometres, giving it an area of 622 square kilometres, or seven times the area of Manhattan Island. ISS Crew Earth Observations: ISS015-E-10125 Identification Mission ISS015 (Expedition 15) Roll E Frame 10125 Country or Geographic Name ATLANTIC OCEAN Features A22A ICEBERG, SMALL ICEBERGS Center Point Latitude -48.8° N Center Point Longitude -24.0° E Camera Camera Tilt 43° Camera Focal Length 180 mm Camera Kodak DCS760C Electronic Still Camera Film 3060 x 2036 pixel CCD, RGBG array. Quality Percentage of Cloud Cover 26-50% Nadir What is Nadir? Date 2007-05-30 Time 14:46:44 Nadir Point Latitude -50.5° N Nadir Point Longitude -21.8° E Nadir to Photo Center Direction Northwest Sun Azimuth 340° Spacecraft Altitude 181 nautical miles (335 km) Sun Elevation Angle 16° Orbit Number 799
Title: Iceberg A22A, South Atlantic Ocean
Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
Author: Image provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Center.
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No