Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection
Title:
Iturralde Crater, Bolivia
Original Caption Released with Image:
NASA scientists will venture into an isolated part of the Bolivian Amazon to try and uncover the origin of a 5 mile (8 kilometer) diameter crater there known as the Iturralde Crater. Traveling to this inhospitable forest setting, the Iturralde Crater Expedition 2002 will seek to determine if the unusual circular crater was created by a meteor or comet. Organized by Dr. Peter Wasilewski of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., the Iturralde Crater Expedition 2002 will be led by Dr. Tim Killeen of Conservation International, which is based in Bolivia. Killeen will be assisted by Dr. Compton Tucker of Goddard. The team intends to collect and analyze rocks and soil, look for glass particles that develop from meteor impacts and study magnetic properties in the area to determine if the Iturralde site was indeed created by a meteor.

This image was acquired on June 29, 2001 by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite. With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER will image Earth for the next 6 years to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet.

ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products.

The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER will provide scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping, and monitoring dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats; monitoring potentially active volcanoes; identifying crop stress; determining cloud morphology and physical properties; wetlands evaluation; thermal pollution monitoring; coral reef degradation; surface temperature mapping of soils and geology; and measuring surface heat balance.

Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. Science team leader; Bjorn Eng of JPL is the project manager. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, a long-term research and technology program designed to examine Earth's land, oceans, atmosphere, ice and life as a total integrated system.

Size: 17.9 x 15.0 km (11.1 x 9.3 miles)
Location: 12.7 deg. South lat., 67.7 deg. West long.
Orientation: North at top
Image Data: ASTER bands 1,2, and 3.
Original Data Resolution: 15 m
Date Acquired: June 29, 2001
Image Credit:
NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDA C/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team
Produced By:
JPL
Mission:
Earth Observing System (EOS)
Spacecraft:
Terra
Target Name:
Earth
Is a satellite of:
Sol (our sun)
Instrument:
ASTER
Product Size:
1192 samples x 998 lines
facet_what:
Sun
facet_what:
Crater
facet_what:
Earth
facet_what:
Terra
facet_what:
Earth Observing System
facet_what:
EOS
facet_what:
ASTER
facet_what:
Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
facet_where:
Bolivia
facet_where:
California
facet_where:
Japan
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where:
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_when:
December 18, 1999
facet_when:
June 29, 2001
facet_when_year:
1999
facet_when_year:
2001
Image #:
PIA03859
UID:
SPD-PHOTJ-PIA03859
orignial url:

Iturralde Crater, Bolivia