Summer in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

MISR Image

Fifty five years ago on this day, President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958. It paved the way for NASA to formally start to operate on Oct. 1, 1958. 

This postcard shows a colorful image, from one of the many missions since NASA opened its door for business, of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Beaufort Sea. It was acquired by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer's downward-viewing camera on August 16, 2000. 

The swirling patterns on the Beaufort Sea are small ice floes driven by turbulent water patterns. The Refuge has many arctic and subarctic ecosystems, including coastal lagoons, barrier islands, arctic tundra, and mountainous terrain.

Discovery.com has an information piece on "NASA at 55: the Birthing of a Space Agency" by Amy Shira Teitel.

You can learn more about the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer Project at JPL's MISR Project Homepage.