With valley glaciers radiating from its slopes, Mt. Everest rises from a cloud-free Himalayan landscape. According to NASA, this is the best photo of the mountain ever taken from the space shuttle. The picture is oreinted with south at the top. The forbidding north face of 29,208-foot peak (8,848m) is cloaked in shadow. The equally dazzying Kangshung face, which looks towards the east, is drenched in morning sunlight. Three ridges come to a point at the summit. Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary, the first people to summit on the roof of the world, followed the South Ridge to their goal.
Source: Earth The Science of our Planet, February 1995, pp 48-49
Panoramic view of the Himalayas as seen from space!
Many more pictures of Himalayas from Space can be found at NASA Space Shuttle Earth Observation Project.
Enter the keyword "Himalayas" on "Search for a Feature" field.
Go back to Shangri La Home Page