Cape Kazantip is a prominent headland on the Kerch Peninsula, which
defines the southern shore of the Sea of Azov and the east extension of
the Crimean Peninsula. During the Second World War, German and Soviet
forces fought on the Kerch Peninsula, with the line of battle impinging
on areas shown at the bottom of the image. Due to its relatively low
latitude (45° N) the Crimea has been the warm holidaying destination for
generations of Ukrainians and Russians. Towns in the Kazantip
area—Lenine, Shcholkine—offer tourist attractions, ranging from
birdwatching to beaches and music festivals.
This detailed astronaut photograph was taken from the International
Space Station (ISS) when it was located 400 kilometers (250 miles) to
the northeast, but due to the long (800 mm) lens used, the photo
includes detailed field patterns and city blocks. Green and brown fields
show intensive agricultural activity in the area, and salt ponds are
visible at the west end of the shallow Lake Aktashskoye at image center.
The distance from the tip of the Cape to the largest local city,
Lenine (population ~70,000, image lower left) is only 20 kilometers (12
Shcholkine, named for a Russian physicist, is a new town built in
1978 to house workers of the planned Crimean nuclear power plant. The
partially completed plant was inspected following the Chernobyl disaster
of 1986, and was found to be located on a site prone to earthquakes.
Further construction was terminated, and the already built structures
and construction equipment was abandoned in place. Today, Shcholkine is
an increasingly popular tourist destination.
Astronaut photograph ISS023-E-56842
was acquired on May 26, 2010, with a Nikon D3X digital camera using an
800 mm lens, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations
experiment and Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space
Center. The image was taken by the Expedition
23 crew. The image in this article has been cropped and enhanced to
improve contrast. Lens artifacts have been removed. The International
Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS
National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be
of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those
images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by
astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of
Earth. Caption by M. Justin Wilkinson, NASA-JSC.