First Light over James Bay

MISR "First light", 16:40 UTC, 24 February 2000. This is the first image of Earth's surface taken from orbit by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument aboard NASA's Terra spacecraft. MISR images are built up line-by-line as the spacecraft flies from north to south on the day side of the planet. North is toward the top and west toward the left in this image, which represents about four minutes of data, taken by the MISR camera pointing most steeply in the forward direction along the line of flight. At the top of the image, the dark-to-light transition captures the opening of the MISR cover. Progressing southward, the distinctive feature that follows is James Bay, Canada, below which are textured sheets of clouds.

MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Terra spacecraft is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. The MISR data were obtained from the NASA Langley Research Center Atmospheric Science Data Center in Hampton, VA.

Image credit: NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Science Team