From Newsgroup: sci.geo.earthquakes
From Address:
Subject: ...today... 19 years later (feb 20)

On Feb 20, 3:42aam, Skywise wrote:
Sixty-nine years ago today, on Feburary 20th, 1943, a fissure
opened in the cornfield of Dionisio Pulido in Michoacbn, Mexico.
This fissure grew a cinder cone over the next several years to
a height of about 1400 feet. Now known as Par0cutin, this volcano
has not erupted since 1952.
Fifty years ago, on February 20, 1962, John Glenn became the first
American to orbit the Earth. He also was one of the first humans to
study the planet from space.
Just 5 minutes and 44 seconds after launch, Glenn offered his first
words about the view from his porthole: oThis is Friendship 7. Can see
clear back; a big cloud pattern way back across towards the Cape.
Beautiful sight.o
Three hours later, at the beginning of his third orbit, Glenn
photographed this panoramic view of Florida from the Georgia border
(right, under clouds) to just north of Cape Canaveral. His American
homeland was 162 miles (260 kilometers) below. oI have the Cape in
sight down there,o he noted to mission controllers. oIt looks real
fine from up here. I can see the whole state of Florida just laid out
like on a map. Beautiful.o
Glenn rocketed into space atop an Atlas rocket in a spacecraft dubbed
Friendship 7. He reached a speed of 17,500 miles per hour as he made
three orbits and traveled 75,679 miles in just under five hours. Along
the way, he saw a dust storm and fires in Africa. He observed the glow
of moonlight on the cloud tops and the ocean. He saw the wake of a
ship and the different colored waters of the Gulf Stream. He saw a
obrilliant blue bando on the horizonuthe thin, fragile atmosphere of
Earth.
In his official report written after the mission, he offered some
highlights:
It was surprising how much of the earth's surface was covered by
clouds...The different types of cloudsuvertical developments, stratus
clouds, and cumulus cloudsuare readily distinguished...Only a few land
areas were visible during the flight because of the cloud cover...
As I came across the United States, I could see New Orleans,
Charleston, and Savannah very clearly. I could also see rivers and
lakes. I think the best view I had of any land area during the flight
was the clear desert region around El Paso on the second pass across
the United States. I could see the colors of the desert and the
irrigated area north of El Paso.
Just off the east coast of Africa were two large storm areas. Weather
Bureau scientists had wondered whether lightning could be seen on the
night side, and it certainly can...Lightning could be seen flashing
back and forth between the clouds, but most prominent were lightning
flashes within thunderheads, illuminating them like light bulbs.
After splashing back down in the Atlantic Ocean near Grand Turk
Island, Glenn described his flight with understated eloquence: oIt was
quite a day. I'm not sure what you can say about a day in which you
see four beautiful sunsets in one day, but it's pretty interesting.o
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=77201

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